A former state health official and a bank loan officer testified at Thomas Wright's trial Tuesday.

Torlen Wade, a former state health official, testified that he wrote a bogus letter on Wright's behalf that prosecutors say was used to secure a loan.

Wade said he only wrote the letter because Wright was a legislator.

"It was a very important project to Representative Wright," Wade told Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby. "He was very, very insistent about it."

Ronnie Burbank, who worked at the Wilmington bank that approved the loan, said he would not have made the loan if he knew the letter was false.

Wright's defense attorneys noted that Wright did not receive anything personally from the loan. (AP)

Wade also testified that it was not the first time he's been asked for a letter for a nonexistent grant. (Hunter's Tavern) 

A committee considering expelling Rep. Thomas Wright found probable cause on eight counts of misconduct. All votes were unanimous among the six-member bipartisan committee.

* Soliciting a fraudulent letter from Torlen Wade committing nonexistent state funds for a history museum in Wilmington. 

* Presenting a fraudulent letter from Wade to the Coastal Federal Bank in order to improperly obtain a $150,000 loan. 

* Improperly spending a $2,400 donation from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals for the Community's Health Foundation. 

* Improperly spending a $5,000 donation from the Anheuser-Busch Companies for the Community's Health Foundation.

* Improperly spending a $1,500 donation from AT&T Corp. for the Community's Health Foundation.

* Improperly spending $9,910 from a line of credit for the Community's Health Foundation.

* Failing to disclose approximately $185,000 in campaign contributions to the State Board of Elections between 2000 and 2007.

* Improperly solicit donations for the Community's Health Foundation and convert them to personal use between 2001 and 2004. 

Torlen Wade told investigators that he did not have any money for a Wilmington museum.

In an interview with the State Board of Elections on May 11, 2007, Wade said that he was asked by Rep. Thomas Wright to write a letter to help him secure a loan for a building in Wilmington that would be used as a museum, according to staff notes of an interview with him.

At the time, Wade was acting director of the Office of Research, Demonstrations and Rural Health Development and knew Wright as a legislator.

Wade said he told Wright he did not have the $150,000 in his budget, the notes say.

"Representative Wright told Mr. Wade that he didn't expect him to actually provide the money, but he needed him to provide a letter stating that the Division would allocate these funds. Representative Wright further told him he wouldn't use the letter," the notes say.

According to the notes, Wade said that the museum would not be the kind of project his division would fund.

"Representative Wright indicated that he understood and that he had already secured the money he needed. However, he needed a letter to show he had the funding," the notes say. "Mr. Wade stated that he probably shouldn't have written it, but he knew he wouldn't have to provide the funding because Representative Wright assured him he wouldn't hold him to the letter."

Wright used the letter to secure a loan which he later defaulted on.

Staff attorneys for Attorney General Roy Cooper are presenting evidence of Rep. Thomas Wright's misconduct.

Senior deputy attorneys general William Hart and Alec Peters said they only investigated Wright once the Wake County prosecutor assured them that it would not interfere with criminal proceedings.

They have just handed out a packet of evidence they compiled. It includes:

* Articles of incorporation for The Community's Health Foundation that inlcudes the names of Wright, Daniel Gottovi, James Lofton and Bessie Funderburg, all of Wilmington.

* An e-mail from Wright to Torlen Wade asking him to write a letter saying that $150,000 in funding will be provided by the state, and the subsequent letter from Wade.

* A notice of foreclosure on the Wilmington building owned by the Community Health Foundation.

* A letter from Wright to the Anheuser-Busch Co. asking for a charitable contribution to the foundation to build a museum to the 1898 race riots in Wilmington.

* Bank records showing donations from AT&T, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Anheuser-Busch worth a total of $8,900.

Hart said that Wright never filed paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to incorporate the Community Health Foundation as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Thomas Wright is in trouble for work he supposedly did for charity.

In the indictments, the Wilmington Democrat is charged with obtaining property by means of a false pretense for:

* Persuading state employee Torlen Wade to write a letter stating that the state Office of Rural Health would commit a $150,000 grant to renovate a historic building in Wilmington.

* Soliciting a $5,000 donation from Anheuser-Bush Companies, $2,400 from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and $1,500 from AT&T Corp. for the Community's Health Foundation, then using the money for personal expenses.

* Obtaining a $9,980 loan from South East Community Credit Union for the Community's Health Foundation, then using the money for personal expenses.

* Spending $185,000 worth of campaign donations on personal expenses.