“Like his political godfather, Jim Black, Rep. Wright is an embarrassment to the state and no longer deserves to be in the General Assembly” (News & Observer, 12/11/07).
Those were the words of Democratic operative and campaign finance watchdog Joe Sinsheimer the day Representative Thomas Wright (D–New Hanover) was indicted by a Wake County grand jury on six felony charges of obstructing justice and defrauding banks, businesses and campaign donors out of $350,000.
Today, Thomas Wright has joined the growing number of members of the General Assembly’s prison inmate caucus. He is currently housed in a Pamlico County prison cell, from which he joins the Capitol Monitor’s Hall of Shame.
While sentencing former Representative Michael Decker to four years in federal prison, federal Judge James Dever declared “How can citizens respect the rule of law when lawmakers feloniously trample the law?”
A dedicated Christian conservative who entered politics campaigning for Jesse Helms in 1978, Michael Decker sold out the principles he espoused for $50,000, earning him a well-deserved position in the Capitol Monitor's Hall of Shame.
... MOREIn 1998, hog farmers and two Republican legislators testified under oath that then-North Carolina House Speaker Harold Brubaker warned of retaliation against the hog industry because they didn't deliver the $200,000 that they'd promised in the 1996 election. After hearing the testimony before the State Board of Elections, House Democratic Leader Jim Black commented, "It's a sad day for the state. If a solicitation for contributions was made conditional on an act by the General Assembly, that's a clear violation of the law."
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