State Rep. Thomas Wright accepted more than $5,000 in cash contributions for his political campaigns without disclosing any of it on state forms, according to testimony Thursday.
The contributions are in addition to almost $350,000 in campaign, charitable and corporate money that investigators say Wright handled improperly or used for personal expenses, David Ingram reports.
Political candidates in North Carolina are allowed to accept cash contributions of up to $50, but they must disclose them in filings with the State Board of Elections or a local elections office.
Kim Strach, the state board's lead investigator, testified before a House panel that Wright disclosed none of the cash contributions he has received since 2000. Her staff discovered the contributions when they examined records of Wright's five bank accounts.
"There are cash contributions" in the records, Strach said. But, she added, "There are no cash contributions disclosed on the reports."
More after the jump.
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Wright, a Wilmington Democrat, is accused of violating ethics rules. The House panel has heard more than three days of testimony and could recommend discipline, including expulsion, to the full House.
A Wake County grand jury indicted Wright last on six felony charges, including obstruction of justice and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Wright has said he did nothing wrong and will not resign his House seat. Irving Joyner, one of Wright's attorneys, questioned Strach on cross-examination. He suggested that the cash Wright received might not have been meant for campaign purposes" and therefore not required to be disclosed.
"These were assumptions that you made, that whatever cash that was deposited into the account was politically related," Joyner told her.
Strach replied that Wright's bank accounts commingled campaign money and personal money, putting the burden on Wright to show why some transactions did not need to be disclosed.
"In a commingled account, there needs to be evidence to us to show why it's not (politically related)," Strach said.
Wright exercised his Fifth Amendment right against possible self-incrimination in a hearing last year before the State Board of Elections.
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