Post by Logan on Jan 24, 2016 22:42:16 GMT -6
The story about Gov. McCrory, a campaign donor and prison contracts keeps evolving
Frank Perry, the former senior FBI agent who now heads the state Department of Public Safety, prides himself on his reputation as a stand-up guy. Indeed, he has been a straight talker from his days in law enforcement and has been respected by elected officials Republican and Democratic.
But Perry seems to be digging himself into a controversy over an October 2014 meeting among Gov. Pat McCrory and senior officials and Graeme Keith Sr. and Graeme Keith Jr., who held through their companies lucrative contracts to do prison maintenance. McCrory, a friend of the Keiths, arranged the meeting.
But the story of what happened and what was said at the meeting and by whom gets a little confusing after that. And Perry has given contradictory versions of his recollections of the meeting.
Keith Sr. disputes it, but he is alleged to have said at the meeting – the governor says Keith didn’t say it to him – that he had given a lot of political contributions over the years and it was time for him to “get something in return.” Obviously, that would be an outrageous attempt to gain an advantage in state contracts because of campaign contributions. No one is naive enough to think contributors do so out of the goodness of their hearts, but Keith’s alleged statement, with the governor in the room, seems particularly blatant.
Read more here: www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article56295960.html
Frank Perry, the former senior FBI agent who now heads the state Department of Public Safety, prides himself on his reputation as a stand-up guy. Indeed, he has been a straight talker from his days in law enforcement and has been respected by elected officials Republican and Democratic.
But Perry seems to be digging himself into a controversy over an October 2014 meeting among Gov. Pat McCrory and senior officials and Graeme Keith Sr. and Graeme Keith Jr., who held through their companies lucrative contracts to do prison maintenance. McCrory, a friend of the Keiths, arranged the meeting.
But the story of what happened and what was said at the meeting and by whom gets a little confusing after that. And Perry has given contradictory versions of his recollections of the meeting.
Keith Sr. disputes it, but he is alleged to have said at the meeting – the governor says Keith didn’t say it to him – that he had given a lot of political contributions over the years and it was time for him to “get something in return.” Obviously, that would be an outrageous attempt to gain an advantage in state contracts because of campaign contributions. No one is naive enough to think contributors do so out of the goodness of their hearts, but Keith’s alleged statement, with the governor in the room, seems particularly blatant.
Read more here: www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article56295960.html