Talk about "new releases."
In an order filed late Sunday night, a judge has dispatched an Orange County sheriff's deputy to Atlanta to be present when a bank safety deposit box purported to contain a sex tape of former presidential candidate John Edwards is opened.
Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones signed the order at 10:35 p.m. at the request of lawyers for Rielle Hunter, the mistress who bore Edwards' love child. The document claims that Edwards' former aide, Andrew Young, and his wife, Cheri, may be in possession of additional items of a "very private and personal" nature.
"Mr. Young shall take the Officer with him into the vault to obtain the lock box," the judge's order says. "The Officer is to secure all items contained in the lock box in bags as is customary for evidence collection."
Hunter filed a motion Jan. 28 in Orange County seeking a temporary restraining order shortly before the Youngs appeared on ABC's 20/20 to discuss Edwards and Hunter's affair. After the Youngs refused to hand over the tape and other items, Jones found the couple in civil contempt Friday and threatened them with arrest if the materials are not provided by Wednesday.
In his book, Young described finding a sex tape while packing boxes in the Chatham County home where Hunter lived with his family for a time. Young had claimed paternity of the child in an attempt to hide the affair of his boss, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
The Youngs told the judge that the original tape is in a safe deposit box in Atlanta, and the FBI has a copy. The couple's attorneys filed notice Monday that they will appeal Jones' order.
Time to check their references?
Gov. Bev Perdue is rounding up advice on picking a new chief of staff from, among others: Norris Tolson, CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, who often serves as Perdue's Mr. Fixit; Ken Eudy, CEO of Capital Strategies, a public relations and lobbying firm; and HildaPinnix-Ragland, a Progress Energy executive and chairwoman of the state community colleges board.
Zach Ambrose, Perdue's current chief of staff, announced last month that he was leaving after one year in Perdue's administration, though he served the same role when she was lieutenant governor.
Perdue's poll numbers remain lackluster and her administration has endured grousing, inside and out, about how well the machinery has operated. Her communications director left in December, and she brought in a new senior adviser, Pearse Edwards, last fall to try and help the governor's office operate more smoothly.
Now to the speculation: Among those mentioned in state government circles as potential chiefs of staff are: Tolson; Leslie Coman, executive vice president at CapStrat; Phil Baddour, former House majority leader; and Secretary of Administration Britt Cobb.
Fetzer proposes cuts,as in Cabinet members
State Republican Chairman Tom Fetzer on Monday called for Perdue to fire two of her Cabinet members as a result of recent controversies.
At a news conference at GOP headquarters, Fetzer urged the governor to remove Alvin Keller, the correction secretary, and Reuben Young, the crime control and public safety secretary.
Fetzer criticized Keller for failing to fill vacancies of parole officers and for backpedaling on his orders to release inmates who were sentenced to life in prison in the 1970s. Fetzer said it was "inexcusable" that parole jobs would go vacant in the current economy. And he said Keller's comments regarding the release of inmates sentenced to life were inconsistent with what private e-mail messages have shown.
Fetzer criticized Young for his role as chief legal counsel to former Gov. Mike Easley for failing to properly investigate claims that the governor's office instructed employees to delete e-mails. He said Young should not be in charge of crime and public safety when he "twice looked the other way" when state open records laws were being broken.
"If the governor is serious about reform, if she is serious about ethics and transparency, if she is serious about filling parole officer vacancies ... these are two actions she should take today," Fetzer said. He called on Perdue to appoint a panel of journalists and concerned citizens to identify obstacles that stand in the way of access to public records.
By staff writers Michael Biesecker, Rob Christensen and Mark Johnson
