NC GOP giving away ‘tainted money’ after Wake embezzlement charges
Wake County government should check its mailboxes for some money from the North Carolina Republican Party.
The NCGOP says Laura Riddick, the former Wake County register of deeds, donated $383 to its organization over the last 14 years. On Thursday, the day after Riddick was charged with six counts of embezzlement, executive director Dallas Woodhouse announced in a tweet that the state Republican Party plans to send a check for that amount to Wake County.
The @ncgop has received 383 dollars from Laura Riddick since 2003. We are cutting a check to Wake County for this amount and sending to the Wake County manager @newsobserver @NCCapitol
— Dallas Woodhouse (@DallasWoodhouse) December 14, 2017
He added that the state party hadn’t donated to Riddick’s campaigns over the years.
Riddick, a Republican, is one of four people charged with embezzling money from the deeds office in downtown Raleigh. About $2.3 million has gone missing over a nine-year period, and indictments allege she took $926,615 between August 2010 and January 2017. Riddick turned herself in to authorities on Wednesday.
After a grand jury handed up Riddick’s indictment on Tuesday, Woodhouse tweeted that “Many @WakeCountyGOP people worked to elect her and fully trusted her.”
While not completely unexpected the news about FORMER Wake Register of Deeds Laura Riddick is heartbreaking. Many @WakeCountyGOP people worked to elect her and fully trusted her. Simply a tragedy
— Dallas Woodhouse (@DallasWoodhouse) December 12, 2017
Woodhouse’s tweet about giving away the money didn’t go over well with Wake commissioner John Burns, a Democrat.
“We’d prefer that the State @GOP focus less on stunts and more on adequately funding public education and behavioral healthcare throughout the state, including here in Wake County,” Burns tweeted back at Woodhouse.
Woodhouse responded: “Mr. Burns, I would prefer you do lots different, but this is about possibly returning tainted money to the taxpayers. Not you. Not the Commissioners. the taxpayers, but of course your record is one of little regard to taxpayers.”
The Wake County Republican Party, meanwhile, is considering doing something similar, said Charles Hellwig, chairman of the party. “We definitely don’t want dirty money,” Hellwig said.
The party is looking into how much money it received from Riddick and will likely make a formal decision when its board members meet in January, he said.
Paul A. Specht: 919-829-4870, @AndySpecht
This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 3:45 PM with the headline "NC GOP giving away ‘tainted money’ after Wake embezzlement charges."