Mark Walker (R-NC)-- More Likely To Land In Prison Than Back In Congress

Bribee Mark Walker (R-NC) and briber Greg Lindberg

Right-wing ideologue Mark Walker (R-NC) isn't ready to retire, despite now representing an un-gerrymandered Greensboro-based district that will never be won by a Republican again-- unless the GOP gerrymanders it again in 2021. This week, when a panel of state judges ruled to accept the new, less gerrymandered electoral map, it was a signal that two Republicans, George Holding (NC-02) and Mark Walker (NC-06). Obama lost the gerrymandered NC-06 both times he ran-- with around 40%. In 2016 Trump beat Hillary there 59.4% to 37.9%. Under the new boundaries Hillary would have beaten Trump by around 20 points!

In the last election the north-central district included all or part of Person, Caswell, Rockingham, Guilford, Alamance, Chatham, Lee and Randolph counties. The city of Greensboro in Guilford County was split between Walker's 6th district and Ted Budd's 13th. Guilford County itself is very blue and countywide, Hillary beat Trump there 147,949 (58.7%) to 97,461 (38.7%). In 2018 Guilford was one of the keys to now Governor Roy Cooper (D) beating then-Governor Pat McCrory (R). Cooper took 154,386 (60.9%) to McCrory's 93,893 (37.0%). Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Ross (R) also won in Guilford-- 56.4% to 40.6% for incumbent Richard Burr (R).

Guilford county has provided the most voters in both the 6th and the 13th and has been a nightmare for both Walker and Budd. It was obvious neither could win in a district that included the whole county. In 2018 the performance in the Guilford portion on NC-06 was D+9 and the partisan performance in the Guilford portion on NC-13 was D+26. Now the county is reunited in NC-06 (along with some of Forsyth County). Worthless Blue Dog millionaire Kathy Manning, a pathetic establishment shill who will do nothing in office but waste air and a seat, is running in NC-06 and unless a good African-American candidate steps in to challenge her, she'll soon be in Congress. Last cycle she spent $4,182,467, almost $600,000 of which came from her own pocket. The DCCC and related PACs spent around $1.8 million trying to help her, to no avail.

So... what about Walker? He's polling to see if he could beat Budd in the considerably redder 13th and he's polling to see if he could take on incumbent Senator Thom Tillis (now that rich crackpot Garland Tucker has just dropped out of the race). About half of Walker's constituents, primarily white Republicans, now live in NC-13 and the polling shows he could beat Budd in a primary.

Walker has a developing major problem with a serious corruption scandal in which he took at least $150,000 in bribes from big-time GOP campaign donor Greg Lindberg in return for helping Lindberg in a matter being decided by North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. Lindberg and the former head of the North Carolina Republican Party, Robin Hayes, another ex-congressman, have been indicted and Walker is likely to be next. If Walker pushes a primary challenge against Tillis the details around the scandal will be front and center and he is more likely to wind up in prison than in the Senate. Filing closes December 20 and Walker won't have to decide until then.

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?

Bernie Sanders Explains Why Arming Syrian Terrorists Is A Bad Idea-- Mark Walker (R-NC) Campaigns On War Against Mexico

The GOP has a lot of freaks and nuts running for Congress this cycle. As we've explained before, few are as off-the-chart out of their minds, as North Carolina extremist Mark Walker. Watch the video up top, in which he talks about "blitzing somebody [Mexico] with a couple of fighter jets to make our point" and how he doesn't have a problem with going to war against Mexico. Or is that his stand up comedian role? But, really, how much crazier and off-the-rails are the fanatics like Walker than the Republicans already in Congress. Wednesday the bulk of the House Republicans-- 159 of them, acting on orders from Boehner-- voted for Buck McKeon's moronic amendment "to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition and other appropriately vetted Syrian groups or individuals." In other words to arm the nonexistent moderate Syrian terrorists, a figment of John McCain's overactive imagination.

Yesterday the Senate voted on the whole budget CR that the House passed and sent over including funds to arm the Syrian terrorists. It passed 78-22 with most progressive senators-- Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Pat Leahy (D-VT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) voting NO. This is the press release Bernie Sanders released right before the vote explaining why he would vote no, and beneath that is his floor speech. If you'd like to help his run for the presidency… we have a page for that.

The Senate prepared to vote Thursday on whether to allow the American military to arm and train Syrian rebels. Sen. Bernie Sanders voted against the United States training and arming Syrian rebels. Sanders said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria "is a brutal and dangerous extremist organization which must be defeated, but this war cannot be won by the United States alone. There needs to be a real international coalition led by the countries most threatened-- Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and Iran. The worst thing that we can do now is allow ISIS to portray this struggle as East vs. West, as Muslim vs. Christian, as the Middle East vs. America. That is exactly what they want and that is exactly what we should not be giving them."

The senator faulted wealthy Middle East nations for doing too little to protect their own interests, especially when Saudi Arabia has the fourth largest military budget in the world. He also questioned why American taxpayers are footing the bill when royal families that rule those Mideast nations are worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

"This is not just a question of whether young men and women in Vermont and across America should be putting their lives on the line in another Mideast war. It is not just about whether the taxpayers of our country should once again pay for a war in the Middle East. It is about the reality that, long term, this struggle will never be won by the United States alone. It must be won with the active participation of the Muslim countries in the region," Sanders said.

Sanders said he supports President Barack Obama’s judicious use of airstrikes which already have shown some success, but in opposing the resolution Sanders said, "I fear very much that supporting questionable groups in Syria who will be outnumbered and outgunned by both ISIS and the Assad regime could open the door to the United States once again being dragged back into the quagmire of long-term military engagement."

If You Want To Vent Your Racism On Facebook, Maybe You Shouldn't Run For Congress

They all look the same to me; which one is Mark Walker?

After the North Carolina Republican primary runoff last month, many people were stunned by what happened in NC-06 (think Mayberry), where a heavy Establishment favorite, Phil Berger's son, Phil, Jr., was defeated by fringe right-wing extremist, Baptist Choral Pastor/gun nut Mark Walker. As we explained at the time, Walker is a Science denier who wants to abolish the minimum wage and raise the Social Security retirement age to 70. And Walker is not just anti-choice, but believes women who are the victims of rape or incest should be forced by the government to give birth to the child of her rapist. Walker wants to defund Planned Parenthood, and enthusiastically supports a so-called "personhood amendment" to the constitution, which would ban common forms of birth control. Everything about him reeks of statism and Big Government interfering in the private lives of regular working families.

What we didn't get into is his virulent racism. No one has come up with a photo of Walker running around in a KKK costume yet but… Facebook is forever. Thursday's High Point Enterprise shared a shockingly racist perspective with the bigoted pastor from his Facebook page.

In the post from April 2013 about families dependent on government assistance and African-Americans, Walker writes that “these Americans have no concept of the pride and joy when we, as parents, invest in our children.” In referring to meeting with a black male who grew up in an inner city, Walker-- who is white-- continues that government programs “strip away the essence of what God created him to be.”

Fjeld and Democratic Party leaders in North Carolina pounced on the comments, which gained national attention in political circles when they were highlighted by the online magazine Slate.

"The fact that Mr. Walker could say that African-American parents don't take pride in investing in their children reflects how out of touch he is with the working families in our district and state. Words like those are just plain wrong," Fjeld said.


State Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford, the Democratic nominee for the 12th Congressional District, said the sentiment in the Facebook post is insensitive.


“In today’s political climate it’s important to understand that we need leaders who understand the needs of all of our citizens and not make assumptions about people based on their race,” Adams said.


“Mark Walker’s comments are not only false but insensitive and insulting,” said Yvonne Johnson, a Greensboro City Council member and former Greensboro mayor.
Walker acknowledged Thursday that his Facebook post wasn’t as articulate as it could have been.

In his post Walker said there are exceptions to African American parents who don't raise their children to fit the right-wing model and he cited the mother of reactionary icon Ben Carson. So generous of Walker! As Howard Chubbs, pastor of the Greensboro's Providence Baptist Church pointed out, "Walker has no concept of our community." On his campaign website, Walker makes it clear that he's running for Congress because he thinks government needs to dictate a right-wing political agenda to families. It isn't any different from the platform Nazis ran on in German in the 1930s: "The breakdown of the American family is a tragic result of a systematic moral devastation. This travesty, created by our government, translates into many other problematic areas within our culture." The primary difference was that the Nazis' main target was the Jews; Walker's is African-Americans.

Fjeld will debate Walker on Fox-8 (WGHP) on October 29. Even if the DCCC is studiously ignoring the race, it's important to remember that Democrats hold a registration advantage in NC-06 and that Kay Hagen won the district in 2008. With someone as extreme as Walker in the race, advocating profoundly unAmerican ideas and a kind of right-wing radicalism that even scares many Republicans, this is a district a vaguely competent DCCC would have on the top of its target list. Alas, that isn't the case this cycle. Maybe Fjeld can do it on her own.

One of the sharpest political minds in the area belongs to Danielle Adams, a young progressive who was elected Durham County Soil & Water District Supervisor. I know Danielle from the People for the American Way's Young Elected Officials network. She's very much in touch with the deep agricultural roots that so many of the voters in NC-06 have and I asked her about Walker's diatribe on Facebook. This is what she told me a few hours ago:

Mr. Walker's post shows not only a lack of understanding of the communities around him but a severe lack of judgement and a very deep level of social and political ignorance that cannot be tolerated of a candidate seeking to serve in the United States House of Representatives.

He shows a lack of awareness of the government programs that systematically oppressed women and minorities while providing the privileges and comforts he now enjoys.

I take personal offense to his comments as a young black woman whose parents worked hard, went to four year universities and worked sometimes two jobs at a time, to ensure that my brothers and I could enjoy the America promised to us.

My parents, and their parents, and the previous generations of strong black and brown parents who served in our military, fought in American wars, worked as teachers, domestic workers, farmers and slaves, took enormous pride and joy in not only investing in, but sacrificing for their children. I am the product of that.

Saying that the entitlement programs of the 60s, to black and brown people have taught us "...to believe that the federal government is designed to provide for every aspect, need or want, of their lives" is one of the biggest falsehoods out there. It is incumbent on any person running for office in our nation to understand the history of entitlements before making egregious blanket judgement on the constituents they purport to want serve. Mr. Walker could use an education based in reality, not privilege.

That's an authentic 21st Century North Carolina voice. Walker may be using Facebook, but his perspective is straight out of the 18th Century.

Another Entry Into The Race For The Craziest GOP Candidate-- Meet North Carolina Sociopath Mark Walker

One of the most overlooked races in the country, NC-06, had their Republican primary runoff last Tuesday. The Republican establishment favorite, Phil Berger Jr., was expected to win thanks to his money and his Dad’s connections and high name recognition among Republican voters. Instead local teabaggers powered an even crazier candidate to victory.

There are 10 counties in NC-06 but Guilford is the biggest, by far, followed by Rockingham and Alamance. The district was drawn to be safe Republican territory but there is a 6-point Democratic voter registration edge and the beloved incumbent, Howard Coble has been in there since 1984 when he narrowly beating a freshman Democrat by riding Ronald Reagan's formidable coattails. The rematch in '86 was even tighter but Coble won, 72,329 to 72,250... 79 votes! Now ailing and in his eighties, Coble is retiring this next year and November will be the first real test of what that Democratic voter registration edge actually means. Obama only garnered 41% against Romney in 2012 but… you know.

Mark Walker is a Baptist Choral Pastor who won the Republican runoff by promising to vote against John Boehner for Speaker, instead pledging his support for Trey Gowdy.  Walker is an extremist in the mold of Jody Hice or Todd Akin. He was already running a primary against Coble when Coble was taken to the hospital and soon after announced he would retire. Hice and Walker are both are anti-Jesus preachers of bigotry and Hate and both are incredibly extreme-- even for southern Republicans, far more radical than anything to do with conservative. But, like Hice, Walker ran against the privileged son of an Establishment figure-- in Hice's case, the son of ex-Congressman Mac Collins and in Walker's case, the son of the widely despised Art Pope puppet, Phil Berger, Sr., President pro tempore of the North Carolina state Senate. Right-wing populists have the sense to know the GOP Establishment is no friend of any ordinary Americans, even if they can't figure out that fascism is not the answer.

Walker is not just anti-choice, but believes women who are the victims of rape or incest should be forced by the government to give birth to the child of her rapist. Walker wants to defund Planned Parenthood, and enthusiastically supports a so-called personhood amendment to the constitution, which would ban common forms of birth control. Everything about him reeks of statism and Big Government interfering in the private lives of regular working families.

Walker has called for what he called “radical change in our current tax code,” and expressed support for combining a "fair" and flat tax, which would be one of the most regressive tax proposals currently in Congress, something that would work really well for the wealthy and shift more of the burden onto the backs of working families, while defunding government functions that underpin a modern post-agrarian society. He opposes the raising the minimum wage, and even questioned the justification the existence of a minimum wage at all.   Walker is another climate change denier steeped in profound ignorance and calling the science behind it "contested." He has called for cutting billions from the Department of Education, and even supported raising the social security age to 70. Art Pope may have supported Berger Jr., but he'll have no problem with Walker if Walker wins in November.

Voters in north-central North Carolina have a better option, and a strong Democratic candidate running for the seat, in Laura Fjeld.  She supports marriage equality, women's right to choice, and she is a passionate spokesperson for protecting and strengthening public education, her top issue:

As a mother and the daughter of two public school teachers, I know that a strong public education system is vital to expanding North Carolina’s economy in a way that will be sustainable over time. From high school, to community colleges to our world-class university system, which I was privileged and proud to serve for years, our schools are training the citizens and work force of the future for jobs that might not even exist yet. 

• Instead of prioritizing the education of our youth and our strong future, the majority administration in Raleigh has done great harm to our students, teachers and parents with drastic cuts that have increased class sizes, cut the number of teachers and teachers’ assistants, and cut pay for public school teachers. This is bad for business, communities, and all North Carolinians, and I will fight against any strategy in Washington that would weaken our public education system in North Carolina.
• Congress should prioritize the education of our nation’s children so that they are prepared for the 21st century, global economy. Congress should provide leadership and support for local school boards, teachers, parents, and students instead of instituting national tests that limit our children’s potential by wasting time and energy on test preparation. We need to support programs that will reward innovation and creativity and allow students to develop problem-solving skills necessary for success

As of the June 30 FEC deadline she had raised $581,598 with an average contribution of under $300, and had $120,363 cash-on-hand. Walker raised $325,262 and spent almost all of it battled Berger and only had $22,671 left in his kitty. Fjeld took it right to Walker on primary night, and assures her supporters she won’t be afraid to call him out on his extremism and his radical positions. It really does look like North Carolina voters can stop an unhinged extremist in Mark Walker. This is a tough district for Democrats (R+10), but Kay Hagan won the district in 2008. Its a good jumping off point to keep another Tea Party crackpot out of Congress.