Rep. Wright asked about campaign finance investigation

RALEIGH -- After months of avoiding our phone calls, Mr. Wright is finally speaking to NewsChannel 3 about his political problems. State Rep. Thomas Wright appeared calm in Wednesday's house session. But his demeanor quickly changed when asked about the ongoing investigation into his campaign finances. "You shouldn't be here right now on this floor doing this. So, if I were you, I would probably go there," Wright said. "I have no comments. We're working with the Board of Elections and we'll get it resolved with them soon." But that's not what former political consultant Joe Sinsheimer says. After filing the complaint against Wright in December that has turned into a criminal investigation, he says Wright is playing games with the state Board of Elections. Sinsheimer said, "He gave them a bank account number that seems to have been closed, and he may or may not have told him some things that haven't checked out. Clearly they've been frustrated in the process with his cooperation." Sinsheimer says more than three months after he filed the complaint, Wright still has not amended his campaign finance reports, despite house Speaker Joe Hackney pressuring Wright to get organized. "One of the things that's happened is that I think speaker Hackney has pressured Representative Wright to take this more seriously, to hire a criminal attorney and get his act together. Because this is a serious matter," Sinsheimer said. House Speaker Hackney expressed his satisfaction with the status of the Board of Elections investigation but said Wright has yet to respond to the allegations. Hackney said, "They are awaiting a response. They will conduct an investigation and will handle it appropriately. So I think it's where it needs to be." Sinsheimer thinks there will likely be state Board of Election hearings on alleged wrongdoing. And after that? Sinsheimer said, "Personally, I believe they're going to recommend that he be prosecuted for perjury." If that happens, Sinsheimer says Hackney should ask for Rep. Wright's resignation. Wright's attorney says he will be responding to the allegations soon. But they have not specified exactly when that will happen.