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Former NC State chancellor going before grand jury
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Published: June 17, 2009
RALEIGH
The former chancellor of North Carolina State University was scheduled to appear before a federal grand jury that is seeking details about former first lady Mary Easley's employment there.
James Oblinger was subpoenaed last month, with federal investigators requesting access to all documents related to Easley's hiring and benefits. Oblinger's attorney, Press Millen, said the chancellor has been asked to appear at the federal courthouse in Raleigh on Wednesday morning.
"The chancellor is going, as he has said all along, to cooperate in every way with this investigation. When he was still chancellor, he directed everyone at N.C. State to do the same thing," Millen said. "He is going there ... with the intention of answering all of the questions of the grand jury."
Oblinger resigned last week as the university released e-mails showing that he had played a role in Easley's hiring. He said he did not recall his contribution until reading the e-mails and said the hiring involved no impropriety and no coercion.
"I am absolutely confident that when this chapter of NC State's history is written, the only conclusion drawn will be that the University and all of its officials acted both correctly and honorably," Oblinger said in his resignation statement.
The university's board of trustees voted to fire Easley the day Oblinger resigned. Two others, the provost and the chairman of the board of trustees, have also resigned amid questions about their roles into Easley's job.
Easley was hired in 2005 to run a speakers series and got more duties and a larger salary - $170,000 per year - last year. E-mails indicate that her husband, former Gov. Mike Easley, played a role in her hiring, as did McQueen Campbell, the former chairman of the trustees board.
A series of stories in the News & Observer of Raleigh showed that Campbell had provided private flights for Easley during his time in office. Separate federal subpoenas have also sought the Easley family travel records.
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