Driving Mr. Easley: Feds, state elections officials looking into former governor's business dealings
Updated June 26, 2010
There’s an old saying in politics that “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” In 2010, continuing state and federal criminal investigations into the activities of former Governor Mike Easley – as well as state legislators’ demands for a special prosecutor – likely had North Carolina's former chief executive searching for the nearest exit.
Federal and state investigators revealed that they were conducting criminal probes of former Gov. Mike Easley's private air travel and his wife's and son's use of vehicles they did not own, along with questionable real estate deals and other potentially illegal practices by the state's former governor.
The federal investigation of Easley was disclosed in subpoenas the FBI delivered to the state Highway Patrol in 2009. The subpoenas ordered the agency to turn over all information it has about the Easley family's private travels since 2000 as part of a grand jury investigation.
In a separate action, the State Elections Board ordered the Easley campaign finance files closed, an official step that establishes that a criminal investigation is under way. Gary Bartlett, the state elections director, said board investigators will conduct a thorough examination of the Easley campaign.
Bartlett said an Easley campaign lawyer has been in contact with his office. The lawyer indicated the Easley committee is working to amend reports and disclose more information about the campaign's actions over the past decade, he said.
"There needs to be disclosure and sunshine on this," Bartlett said.
"I am comfortable with the federal authorities collecting and reviewing all records relating to my 30 years of public service to the people of North Carolina," Easley said in a statement released to the media on May 15, 2009. "I am confident of the outcome and we look forward to moving on with our private lives." And when Easley appeared before the State Board of Elections in October of 2009, he indeed appeared the picture of confidence - denying all allegations disclosed during several days of damning testimony.
Some History
Published reports indicate that federal law enforcement authorities are looking into some business deals involving the state’s former chief executive and some longtime political supporters.
Because of their business ties to Easley, a Carteret County real estate development where the former governor recently bought property, and two prominent North Carolina car dealers have all found themselves in the crosshairs of federal investigators.
Free Cars
Fayetteville car dealer Robert F. Bleecker was questioned by a federal grand jury on April 16 about a vehicle he provided to the Easley family while Mike Easley was in office. The reported point of interest for the grand jury was a 2000 GMC Yukon driven by Easley’s son. Records indicated that Bleecker’s dealership bought that particular Yukon in 2003, and had owned it, insured it, and paid taxes on it ever since. (Mike Easley served as governor of North Carolina from 2000 through 2008).
The former governor’s initial comments about the transaction indicated that he thought the Yukon was acquired as part of a lease deal with Bleecker’s dealership. No records on file with the North Carolina DMV support that explanation.
DMV allows 10 days for submitting title work on cars purchased without borrowing and 20 days for transactions in which borrowing takes place. DMV officials say title work is generally filed at the same time as a purchase or within a few days.
Bleecker seems to make a habit of providing automobiles to politicians. State Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand says that his Bleecker-owned car is part of his compensation as a member of the Board of Directors for Bleecker's Dunn dealership.
Air Easley
While he was governor, Mike Easley apparently turned a small group of influential N.C. business executives into his own private air service, an arrangement Easley kept secret.
Starting in 2003, Easley took at least 25 flights on private jets, some in apparent violation of campaign laws and ethics rules, documents and interviews show. Some flights were free. The value of others exceeded campaign contribution limits.
Records show the executives who flew Easley took him around the state and to such places as Atlanta, Richmond, Va., Washington and Florida. Easley, a Democrat who left office in January, appointed some of his benefactors to boards that oversee state transportation networks, the state's largest universities and other functions.
A “bargain” at the beach
Federal authorities are also investigating a land deal at a waterfront development in Carteret County in which the former governor has purchased a lot, according to a statement from the company that marketed the property.
The lot owned by Easley was purchased in 2005. A 2006 report by the Carolina Journal, a publication of the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation, first raised questions about whether Easley got the lot at a price below the market value at the time.
The project, called Cannonsgate, was developed and marketed by brothers Randy and Gary Allen, both appointed by Easley to the state Wildlife Commission.
Another Car Conundrum
Published reports also indicate that former First Lady Mary Easley has been driving a $30,000 Honda Accord provided by Charlotte car dealer Rick Hendrick.
Media reports showed that Mary Easley was driving the Accord during February and March, mostly commuting from her home to her job at N.C. State University in Raleigh.
Hendrick Honda of Charlotte had bought the car from itself in the final week of the Easley administration, paying a sticker price plus fees and taxes that totaled $30,557, records show.
The car was bought by Hendrick Honda on Jan. 7. Easley left office Jan. 10.
Easley and Hendrick both described the Accord as a “loaner” for Mrs. Easley while she waited for the car she actually wanted to purchase. Neither man produced records of the Easleys paying for the Accord, but on March 29, 2009, just as media reports began to surface, a transaction was made by the Easley's for the purchase of an Accord in the amount of $29,658.
Media reports also disclosed that the former governor took a vacation to a small island off Key West, Fla., in March 2008 and that the trip was paid for by Rick Hendrick.
Under state ethics rules, Easley generally could not accept such gifts as governor. One exception: Gifts based on personal ties that do not appear to be related to lobbying. Easley and Hendrick said Hendrick did not lobby Easley. Hendrick described Easley as a friend of 20 years whom he invited to go fishing in Florida.
Hendrick Automotive, Rick Hendrick’s company, owns 30 dealerships in North Carolina and dozens more across the nation. Hendrick Motorsports sponsors four NASCAR race teams, and Hendrick is involved in a trade association that has secured racing-friendly legislation. Hendrick has described his role in the association as merely “ceremonial.” But beyond the $10,500 that Hendrick has given directly to Easley’s campaigns, he has also given more than $9,000 to the NC Auto Dealers Association PAC.
That seems like more than just “ceremonial” giving.
Air Bev
With former Governor Easley under federal investigation for getting free air travel from his political cronies, early in August 2009 Governor Perdue belatedly began fessing up to the State Board of Elections about flights on corporate planes her campaign forgot to pay for.
One of the captains in Perdue’s Air Force is Jimmy Clark, who Perdue describes as a Greensboro engineer. But Mr. Clark is really the President of Guy M. Turner Inc., a heavy load hauling & transport company and Perdue campaign contributor. In all likelihood, Mr. Clark didn't object when the Perdue Administration suspended hefty fines on road destroying overloaded trucks.
Perdue continued to add more unreported flights to the list, but in June 2010, the State Board of Elections released a report which documented that Perdue had failed to properly disclose $56,000 in air travel during the 2004 and 2008 election cycles, for a total of 42 undisclosed flights.
The Rest of the Story
Time hasn't helped Easley's case. In January 2010, federal prosecutors indicted one of Easley's top aides, Ruffin Poole, on 57 counts of bribery, extortion, and money laundering, all while he was under the employ of Easley. Poole eventually reached a plea deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to only one count, and that, along with Poole's cooperation in the Easley investigation, doesn't bode well for the former governor.
In February 2010, transcripts of testimony by Easley's former communications director Sherri Johnson revealed that the former governor had gone to great lengths to hide questionable activities, even using a secret, private e-mail account under the pseudonym "Nick Danger" (spelled backwards), a fictional private eye, for sensitive correspondence. A review of all e-mails turned over by the Easley defense team revealed not a single one originating from the private account - providing even more evidence of a cover-up.
More revelations came as the federal grand jury continued its investigation. In May 2010, in response to a documents request regarding an unusual employment arrangement wherein Southport Mayor Norman Holden was paid $19,800 yearly to serve as a liaison to DOT, a 2007 letter from Holden to Easley was revealed. Attached to the letter, which addressed local political issues, a note was attached that instructed that the letter be shredded after it was read.
By June 2010, the federal grand jury had been meeting for more than a year - but apparently Ruffin Poole's cooperation was paying off and they still had more to learn. Several of Easley's former cabinet secretaries, including Commerce Secretary Jim Fain and Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett appeared at the federal courthouse in mid-June. Former state senator Tony Rand was still scheduled to testify, and according to subpoenas, the feds were still planning to interview former DMV Commissioner George Tatum and others.
After cruising along in high style for more than eight years, Mike Easley may have finally managed to drive himself off a cliff.
