District attorney investigating some N.C. Democratic contributions

The State Board of Elections is working with the New Hanover County District Attorney’s office on an investigation into contributions connected to Democratic fundraiser Rusty Carter.

Gary Bartlett, the executive director of the elections board, said that the file on Carter’s contributions has been closed, a step taken when the board’s investigations become criminal. The board’s staff is coordinating with District Attorney Ben David’s office, Bartlett said.

Gov. Bev Perdue’s campaign forfeited $48,000 from contributors who had ties to Carter because the campaign was concerned that the donors may have been reimbursed. In North Carolina, it is illegal to give in the name of another.

The contributions were first pointed out by Tom Fetzer, chairman of the N.C. Republican Party. Fetzer has followed up with a series of news conferences in which he has said the campaign of Perdue, a Democrat, deserves the same type of public hearing that the board conducted on former Gov. Mike Easley, also a Democrat.

Bartlett said such a hearing for Perdue is not called for. The state’s campaign finance laws are based on self-policing in which finance reports are made public.

“If evidence is to come forward, I think it is the responsibility of not only the campaign, but everybody who is a part of this process to question it,” Bartlett told Dome. “What the law is not set up to is to question everything without some type of evidence to start it because you do not need to go on any fishing expeditions without a cause. You go for a purpose.”

Fetzer has held weekly news conferences to point out what he says are suspicious patterns in Perdue’s contributions. Most involve multiple checks from people connected to a person or business.

Bartlett said fundraisers routinely ask co-workers, family members or friends for checks, which are often turned in on the same day.

“There’s not a law against it,” Bartlett said. “There is a law against giving in the name of another. When we find that out, certainly we do our diligence and work with law enforcement agencies. Sometimes that’s with a state board hearing and sometimes that’s not.”

The board is looking into all candidates for governor for the last two election cycles. Perdue has disclosed 31 campaign flights that were previously not reported correctly. Democrats have pointed out potential problems with a few flights for Republican candidates.

THANKS, RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER!
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/30/414114/district-attorney-investigating.html#ixzz0jgpwpskV