Gov. Bev Perdue Says Feds Are Investigating Her Campaign
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Friday that Federal authorities are now investigating her 2008 campaign for governor, opening up another legal inquiry for a candidacy dogged by unreported airplane flights.
Perdue said in a statement issued through a campaign spokesman that she is proud of her record.
"As a citizen, a candidate for public office, and an elected official of this state, I have tried my best to abide by all applicable laws, and my administration has been one of the most open in history," Perdue said. She said it would be inappropriate to make any additional comments about the probe.
North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation has already opened its own probe into Perdue after the district attorney in Wake County said he had lingering questions about her campaign's airplane flights. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney George Holding did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The State Board of Elections fined Perdue's campaign $30,000 in August for failing to report in a timely fashion private flights going back to 2005. A majority of the board found no deliberate effort to break the law.
Perdue issued the statement shortly after The News & Observer of Raleigh reported about the probe.
The governor and her staff have said for the past year that an internal review found the unreported flights and that the campaign voluntarily reported the potential problems to the elections board. But the board found that the campaign had information on 37 flights in mid-2007 but only reported 18 of them before Election Day of the following year. Perdue's committee attorney couldn't explain why the campaign information was withheld.
Perdue said earlier this month that she's confident the state investigation won't turn up intentional criminal wrongdoing. She said Friday she would continue focusing on her work.
"North Carolina, a state we all love, as we all know, is in a critical time in its existence," she said in the statement. "I will continue to use all my time and energy to address and resolve the challenging issues facing our state."
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, WRAL, Google Maps
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