NC Governor Pays $30,000 Fine

Updated Aug. 25, 2010, 1:16 pm:

Governor Perdue has paid her $30,000 fine in full to the North Carolina Board of Elections.

 Updated Aug. 24, 2010, 6:16 pm:

Gov. Perdue just released this statement, saying her campaign will pay the fine by the end of the day:

“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. 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.”

Updated Aug. 24, 2010, 2:47 p.m.:

The Board of Elections has voted to fine Governor Bev Perdue $30,000 for failing to report privately funded flights Perdue took during her 2008 and 2004 campaigns.

In doing so, the board concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing by Perdue's campaign but rather an inadequate system of tracking and reporting flights paid for by corporations and individuals.

A spokesperson for the Governor's campaign says the board's decision is fair.

"We have tried from day one to take responsibility for this," said Marc Farinella, a consultant who works for the Democratic Governor.

The chairman of the NC Republican Party, Tom Fetzer, had asked the board to conduct public hearings on the flights and put Perdue staffers under oath. But a motion to hold those hearings failed by a 4-1 vote.

"You'll note the vote was along party lines with the Democratic board members who were appointed by the Governor giving her a whitewash," said Fetzer. "The truth is still untold and there is still no transparency for voters in North Carolina."

Posted Aug. 24, 2010, 11:48 a.m.:

An attorney for North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue admits her campaign "made mistakes" in not reporting flights she took while running for office in 2008.

The state board of elections met in Asheville Tuesday morning to discuss its investigation into private flights taken by Perdue and other candidates during the 2008 gubernatorial campaign.

The investigation identified 19 flights taken by Perdue -- and paid for by corporations -- that were not disclosed or reported prior to the 2008 general election.

The value of those flights is estimated by Perdue's campaign at $21,000.

Perdue's campaign attorney, John Wallace, told the board the campaign "acknowledges wrongdoing" and cannot pinpoint why the flights were not reported or who was at fault in not documenting them on campaign disclosure forms.

But Wallace also told the board Perdue's campaign was proactive in identifying the reporting problems as early as spring 2007 and has taken steps to correct its process of reporting private flights.

A committee formed by Perdue in 2007 identified 37 flights that had not been reported since her 2004 campaign for lieutenant governor. 18 of those flights were then disclosed prior to the 2008 general election. The remaining 19 were later disclosed in 2009 and 2010.
Tom Fetzer, the chairman of the state Republican party, asked the elections board today to conduct public hearings on the matter and determine if fines should be imposed against the democratic governor.

The board met in executive session Tuesday morning to decide what action it will take.
Check wspa.com later for updates.