Draining The Swamp In North Carolina Yields The Head Of The State Republican Party, The Party's Top Donor And 3 Others, Including A Far Right Member Of Congress

About a decade ago, mostly back in 2006 and 2008, we used to write a lot about a North Carolina multimillionaire congressman named Robin Hayes. The district he represented, NC-08, is now mostly NC-09, the one where a Trumpist candidate was caught rigging the ballots last year, causing the election to be voided. The district has no representative in Congress now and a new election is in the works. (Tangent: Hayes was defeated by Larry Kissel, who ran as a progressive and then joined the Blue Dogs and voted like a Republican, totally alienating his base, which, naturally enough, didn't lure Republican voters, just caused Democrats to not vote for him. He lost his seat in 2012.)

Hayes was a freak. One of the reasons he lost so badly to Kissel in 2008 was because he accused then candidate Barack Obama of "inciting class warfare" and claiming that "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God." That brought him a lot of attention and he not only denied that he ever said it, he also accused the media reporting his remarks "irresponsible journalism." Unfortunately for Rep. Hayes, someone made a tape. When that was released Hayes simple denied that he denied the statement. Kissel beat him by ten points.

Instead of just letting him quietly slip away into obscurity, the North Carolina elected him chairman of the state party, a two year term. They elected him again in 2016. Today Hayes was in court, having been indicted by a federal grand jury on a variety of charges for funneling bribe money to the re-election campaign of North Carolina Insurance commissioner Mike Causey. (Yesterday, he said his health had determined that he wouldn't be seeking another term as state Republican Chairman.)

It was actually wealthy entrepreneur and Republican Party mega-donor Greg Lindberg who was being investigated when the FBI stumbled upon Hayes. Lindberg would write $40 checks to the DCCC on the same day he wrote $500,000 checks to the Republican Party of North Carolina. He's contributed million of dollars to the GOP in recent years and was the state party's biggest single donor and is the money-bags behind the state's crooked Lt. Govenor, Dan Forest, who is running for governor next year.

Four people-- Hayes, Lindberg, John D. Gray and John V. Palermo-- were charged in the case, and all four made their first appearances in court Tuesday, the same day the indictment was unsealed. They’re charged with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud (a charge generally associated with the behavior of public officials) as well as bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and aiding and abetting.

Each of the four pleaded not guilty. The indictment says Causey contacted federal law enforcement officials in January 2018 and has cooperated with the ongoing FBI investigation.

The indictment mentions another person in contact with Lindberg and Causey-- “Public Official A”-- but doesn’t name them or mention charges. Politico reported Tuesday afternoon that the official is Republican Congressman Mark Walker. Politico identified Walker using the indictment and records from the Federal Election Commission, the outlet reported.

The four are alleged to have devised a scheme to defraud North Carolina citizens through attempts to bribe commissioner Causey, according to the grand jury’s indictment. The four offered campaign donations in exchange for “specific official action favorable” to a company Lindberg owns, as well as staffing changes at the Department of Insurance, the indictment says.

Each of the four was released on $100,000 bond, on the condition that they turn in their passports and report any travel to federal probation officials.

Hayes, 73, represented North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District from 1999 to 2009. He appeared in federal court Tuesday using a walker. His lawyers told federal magistrate David Kessler that he had surgery in February and that his mobility is limited.


One of Hayes’ attorneys told the judge that he is eager to “clear his name.”

The NC GOP has been cooperating with the federal investigation for months but didn’t learn about the indictments until early Tuesday, party legal counsel Josh Howard said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.


”Early this morning, the North Carolina Republican Party was made aware of several indictments surrounding the conduct of a major donor to both major political parties and two of his associates,” Howard said in the statement.

“The Party has been cooperating with the investigation for several months, including staff members providing statements and responding to various document requests,” he said. “The Party, which has its day to day operations managed by professional staff under the direction of the NCGOP Central Committee, remains fully operational and focused on its mission at hand.”

Lindberg owns Durham-based Eli Global, LLC, an investment company, as well as Global Bankers Insurance Group, a managing company for several insurance and reinsurance companies. Gray is a consultant for Lindberg and Palermo is vice president of special projects for Eli Global.

At Lindberg’s direction, Palermo set up two entities to form a committee that would provide campaign funds to Causey, the indictment alleges. Lindberg then put $1.5 million into the companies, it says. Lindberg and Gray then instructed Hayes to transfer $250,000 to Causey’s campaign from the NC GOP campaign committee, according to the indictment.

Causey previously rejected a $10,000 campaign donation from Lindberg. That was in 2017, according to indictment. In August 2017, the indictment says Hayes texted Causey and suggested “I think u should consider a face to face (with Lindberg).”

In November 2017, Gray told Causey that Lindberg had contributed $500,000 to the NC GOP and earmarked $110,000 for Causey’s campaign, according to the indictment. Federal campaign finance laws prohibit state organizations from earmarking general donations for specific candidates, as McClatchy previously reported in a story about Hayes.


Later, in February 2018, Causey met with Palermo at a restaurant in Chapel Hill, according to the indictment. There, Palermo suggested that Causey hire him for the NC Department of Insurance staff. In a March 5 meeting in Statesville, Causey then confirmed his ability to hire Palermo. During that meeting, Lindberg told Causey that he’d support him with up to $2 million in campaign contributions, according to the indictment.

In March 2018, Causey told Lindberg that he didn’t think it would be a good idea to hire Palermo since Lindberg’s company was “liable to end up in the newspaper,” the indictment says. Lindberg agreed, the indictment says, and suggested an alternative move of transferring one of Causey’s senior deputies to a different division.

Around June 19, 2018, Gray told Causey that the political committee had been funded with $1.5 million, the indictment says. However, about 10 days later, Lindberg told Palermo that he was “shutting down donations until we see some improvement in the NC DOI staff,” the indictment says.

In July 2018, Palermo told Lindberg he had lunch with “Public Official A” and talked to him about the issues in the insurance department, the indictment says. Palermo then quoted “Public Official A,” saying that Causey “needs to man-up and do what he agreed to.” The indictment says the public official then contacted Causey and said Lindberg, Gray and Palermo “seemed anxious to find out” if Causey had made staffing changes.


The indictment also contends that Hayes repeatedly lied to FBI agents.

Hayes, for instance, wrongly told FBI agents he’d never spoken to the insurance commissioner about Lindberg or about personnel problems at the insurance department, the indictment states. In fact, Hayes had spoken to the commissioner about contributions from Lindberg being funneled through the state Republican Party to the commissioner-- and about Lindberg’s request that the commissioner move certain personnel within the department, according to the indictment.

The indictment states that Hayes lied about a $500,000 contribution that Lindberg made to the state Republican Party, claiming he never talked with Lindberg about where he expected that money to go. In reality, the indictment alleges, Lindberg and one of his consultants had directed Hayes to transfer $250,000 to the commissioner’s campaign.

The indictment says FBI agents interviewed Hayes in August 2018 and specifically asked whether Hayes was aware of “expectations” Lindberg might have had for a $500,000 donation he made to the party. “Absolutely not,” Hayes responded, according to the indictment.

In a news release Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski referred to the group’s alleged actions as “a brazen bribery scheme in which Greg Lindberg and his coconspirators allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg’s business interests.”

Benczkowski added: “The Criminal Division will use all the tools at our disposal-- including the assistance of law-abiding public officials-- to relentlessly investigate and prosecute corruption wherever we find it.”

Walker (r) is a big-time Trump enabler

Walker hasn't been indicted yet but Politico reported today that "text and emails released by the Justice Department said Walker was part of Lindberg's scheme to pressure Causey over the personnel move. 'Just between the 3 of us... [Public Official A] has already made two calls on our behalf and is trying to help us move the ball forward,' one of Lindberg’s associates said in a February 2018 email to Lindberg, according to the indictment. 'I was also told that the $150,000 will be going to [Public Official A].' FEC records show Lindberg donated to the Mark Walker Victory Committee on Feb. 17, 2018. Lindberg was the first donor to contribute to the committee, which was created only four days before his donation was recorded... Earlier, Lindberg donated more than $78,000 to a different Walker-affiliated joint fundraising committee, according to FEC records."

Walker and the rest of the crooks are all claiming to be innocent. It is likely they will all turn on each other and blame each other. Walker, a former pastor, now serves as vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference. Lindberg has also been busy bribing then-Governor, now-Senator Rick Scott (to the tune of $400,000). If millionaires and billionaires paid their fair share of taxes, they wouldn't have this kind of money to throw around as bribes to crook politicians-- of both parties-- and that is exactly why crooked politicians of both parties have kept tax rates for the very rich so low. I wish I could say Pelosi is part of the solution-- but she isn't; she's part of the problem. You know who will be, though?