ASHEVILLE -- The State Board of Elections fined the campaign of Gov. Bev Perdue $30,000 Tuesday for its failure to report as donations 42 flights on private aircraft during her 2008 run for governor.
The board, made up of three Democrats and two Republicans appointed by Perdue, voted along party lines to kill a push by the GOP to hold public hearings in which the governor's staffers would be questioned under oath about the flights.
The board's three Democrats also voted against a motion from Republican board member Chuck Winfrey to impose a $75,000 fine. Winfrey then joined with the three Democrats to impose the smaller sanction, making the final vote 4-1.
"For eight months now I have said repeatedly my campaign had a flawed system for recording flights, and we should have done a better job," Perdue said in a statement. "But it's clear there was never any intent by my campaign to conceal any flights or contributions, and today the Board formally recognized that fact. My campaign will pay the fine by the end of the day, and I look forward to putting this matter to rest."
But state GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer called the ruling a "whitewash" perpetrated by Perdue's handpicked partisan board members.
"If people had been put under oath, and if this investigation had continued, it would have become rather obvious to people that the Perdue campaign did willfully and knowingly fail to disclose illegal fights," Fetzer said.
Elections laws require campaigns to properly disclose what money they bring in and spend. They are also required to report the value of donated services, such as a campaign's use of a plane. The elections board is responsible for enforcing elections laws, including investigating complaints, and may refer criminal violations for prosecution.
Air travel, increasingly used by candidates to get across the state quickly, became a big issue last year, when the campaign of former Gov. Mike Easley came under scrutiny. The elections board fined Easley's campaign committee $100,000, in part over unreported flights on private aircraft. Easley, who is now under criminal investigation, has not paid the fine.
The N.C. Republican Party in October filed a complaint with the elections board about the Perdue campaign's failure to report flights during the '08 campaign. Tuesday's board vote ends the investigation into the complaint.
Board chairman Larry Leake, a Democrat, said all the other campaigns from the '08 gubernatorial race had also failed to properly report flights, including that of GOP nominee Pat McCrory. But those campaigns did not offend to the same degree as Perdue's committee, and no fines were warranted, Leake said.
Reached late Tuesday, McCrory said his campaign erroneously overlooked a bill for two flights in 2008 but his camp has since made good on the debt and was never fined by the elections board.
During Tuesday's meeting, Perdue lawyer John Wallace did not dispute information in a report by elections board staff investigator Kim Strach that the Perdue campaign had extensive records on many of the flights that it failed to report. "There was a failure on the part of the committee that I cannot explain," Wallace told the board. "What we have is people, in the heat of a campaign, acting imperfectly."
Leake said he was satisfied with Wallace's explanation and thought the $30,000 fine was appropriate. He said he doubts that any additional information would come from testimony from subpoenaed witnesses.
"In my view we have learned all there was to learn," said Leake, a Mars Hill lawyer. "I did not think there was anything to be gained through conducting an evidentiary hearing. ... We have asked everybody under the sun."
Joe Sinsheimer, a Democratic Party consultant turned watchdog, said of Tuesday's decision, "The governor should be happy today. Her team dodged its way to the exact verdict she was hoping for."
Partisan exchange
Before the vote, Fetzer called for Leake and elections director Gary Bartlett to recuse themselves from deliberations, saying they had attempted to impede the board's staff investigation of the flights through dictating who Strach could interview, then editing her report to remove references to the restrictions.
Leake, who has served on the elections board for 18 years under three Democratic administrations, bristled at Fetzer's suggestion that he could not be fair. Leake pointed to his conduct in the board's past investigations of prominent Democrats, including Easley and former House Speaker Jim Black.
In a testy exchange, Leake said Fetzer was trying to "stampede a lynching" by calling frequent news conferences in which he said the elections board is "a cesspool" of corruption.
"You don't know me from Adam's house cat," Leake said to Fetzer. "And I don't know you from Adam's house dog."
Leake said he was fulfilling his statutory responsibility as chairman of the board to help guide the staff investigation, including sitting in while Strach interviewed Perdue staffers.
"My involvement in this investigation has been no different than my actions in other investigations," Leake said. "Facilitating an investigation, participating in an investigation, is not a cover-up, sir."
After the ruling, Fetzer called on Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby to charge Leake, Bartlett and Wallace with obstruction of justice for what he termed their collusion to interfere with Strach's investigation.
"This was a whitewash today, and predictable," Fetzer said. "Three partisan appointees of the governor's same party, the Democrats, let her off."
Charlotte Observer staff writer Elisabeth Arriero contributed to this report.
