How the Greg Lindberg bribery trial is playing out in the GOP primary for governor
The bribery trial of North Carolina’s campaign mega-donor Greg Lindberg is underway at an inconvenient time for the recipients of his contributions: the middle of campaign season.
Lindberg has given millions to Democrats and Republicans, with the most, $2.4 million, going to support Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest three years before his run for governor. Forest hopes to win the Republican primary; then he’d face incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in November.
“Greg Lindberg has been indicted and he hasn’t had his day in court yet, but I would question what he wanted in return from Dan Forest for all of that money,” Forest’s GOP primary opponent, state Rep. Holly Grange, told ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner, in an interview. “And I think, that is the big question mark to me.”
Grange told ABC11: “To me, the money is tainted. It should be given back, it should be returned, or donated to charity.”
Forest has not been charged or investigated for anything related to Lindberg, nor has he been called as a witness in the trial.
“First of all, other than the fact that he’s given us money it has nothing to do with me,” Forest told The N&O in a recent interview.
Forest blamed the news media for mentioning his name in stories about Lindberg campaign donations but not also the Democratic Party and former Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. Lindberg also gave money in support of Goodwin and the state Democratic Party, as the N&O has reported.
Goodwin is now running for insurance commissioner against incumbent Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who sounded the alarm that led to the Lindberg bribery trial. Prosecutors say Lindberg tried unsuccessfully to bribe Causey, who cooperated with an FBI investigation and secretly recorded conversations.
Forest’s campaign and PACs that support his campaign received $2.4 million in 2017. Documents show that around the same time, Forest’s chief of staff Hal Weatherman contacted Causey’s office, saying that Lindberg wanted to meet with Causey and others, McClatchy previously reported.
Within the Democratic Party, leaders raised questions about receiving and keeping donations from Lindberg, The N&O previously reported, but they have not returned the donations, nor has Forest.
“Money is neutral,” Forest told the N&O in a recent interview.
“If the money came from a nefarious purpose or something like that, that’s different. But [others] received the money legally, we received the money legally. There’s nothing wrong with any of that,” Forest said. “So it’s a non-issue. It’s been a non-issue for the Democrat Party, it’s been a non-issue for the black caucus, it’s been a non-issue for the historically black colleges that received a lot of money from Mr. Lindberg, it’s just a non-issue.”
Forest is the frontrunner in the primary, with much more money and a higher profile as lieutenant governor. Grange, a Wilmington Republican, is among 120 members of the House.
But Grange is raising questions about Forest’s electability against Cooper over his Lindberg ties. “If he is the nominee, I guarantee it will be — you’ll probably hear about it every day,” Grange told ABC11.
Prosecutors say Lindberg and his associates John Gray and John Palermo tried to funnel bribe money to Causey’s campaign so he would remove a deputy insurance commissioner responsible for regulating one of Lindberg’s companies.
Robin Hayes, the former chairman of the state Republican Party, was charged for his alleged role in the scheme. Hayes pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.
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