An aide to former Gov. Mike Easley declined to testify yesterday before the State Board of Elections, which is continuing its months-long investigation into Easley's campaign committee.
Through his attorney, Ruffin Poole exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself during a brief hearing before the five-member board.
Poole had been subpoenaed to testify during the elections board's investigation, and evidence during an October board hearing showed that Poole was involved in fundraising for the governor's campaign.
Poole's decision adds further intrigue to the probe into Easley's campaign, which the board penalized $100,000 in October for failing to disclose dozens of private airplane flights from a former Easley political ally, McQueen Campbell.
A local prosecutor is now examining whether Easley or others should face criminal charges.
Federal prosecutors also are investigating activities surrounding Easley and his associates. The Raleigh News & Observer also raised questions about Poole's role in a coastal development assembled by brothers Gary and Randy Allen, who were Easley political supporters.
Poole and his attorney, Joe Zeszotarski, declined to comment after leaving the board hearing. Poole, who is is an attorney, joined a law firm with Easley after the governor left office in January.
Poole's potential testimony was delayed in October when he successfully got a Superior Court judge to quash the subpoena when Poole claimed that attorney-client privilege prevented him from speaking.
But the court of appeals issued a stay on the lower-court order, and the board rescheduled his appearance. Yesterday, Zeszotarski told board chairman Larry Leake that Poole wouldn't answer any questions, citing the privilege, and that his motion to quash the subpoena is still pending.
Leake disagreed and threatened to send Poole to jail for contempt of the board's subpoena. Zeszotarski ultimately said that Poole would instead assert his right against self-incrimination.
Testimony at the October board hearing indicated that Poole, who first worked with Easley while Easley was attorney general and became his top legal adviser while Easley was governor, was involved in political fundraising and received a $10,000 check from the state Democratic Party at a post-office box for the Eas-ley campaign.
Gary Allen testified that an Easley campaign fundraiser contacted Poole when Allen was having trouble getting permits for one of his developments. Allen also said that a $50,000 check he wrote to the state Democratic Party in advance of the 2004 election had no relation to the eventual approval of the permit at Oyster Harbour in Brunswick County.
The News & Observer reported yesterday that Poole contacted the director of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management in June 2005 about a water-quality permit sought by the Allens for the Cannonsgate development in Carteret County.
The state approved several permits for Cannonsgate in the summer of 2005. At the end of the year, Easley and his wife bought a lot in the subdivision at a $137,000 discount.
Stephen Smith, a Raleigh attorney representing Gary Allen, has said that development permits were approved in a lawful manner.
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