Gov. Mike Easley will try to attend an economic discussion with Barack Obama and other Democratic governors in Chicago Friday, Easley's office said Wednesday.

"The governor is planning to go, but with everything going on with the (state) budget, it's kind of up in the air," said Easley spokeswoman Sherri Johnson.

The governor and state legislators are hoping to finish negotiations on the budget before the new fiscal year begins July 1, David Ingram reports.

Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is hosting the event to discuss the health of state budgets and to "develop innovative solutions to the economic challenges the American people are facing every day," his campaign said.

Gov. Mike Easley's chief legal counsel today declined to comment on the letter he wrote this week saying that "absolutely no evidence" exists to support a former public affairs director's claim that the governor's communications staff directed public information officials in executive branch agencies to destroy e-mails after sending them to the governor's office.

In a brief interview, Chief Legal Counsel Reuben F. Young declined to say whether the governor's press aides had denied telling the agency spokespeople to kill e-mails, or what he meant by saying there was no evidence it happened, reports Dan Kane.

Young repeatedly referred all questions to the governor's communications staff.

"I understand your question and I'm not giving you a hard time here," Young said. "I just want you to understand my response and that is I will refer you to the press office."

More after the jump.

   Comments (4)