DGA Releases New McCrory Video: ‘Very, Very Serious’
DGA Releases New McCrory Video: ‘Very, Very Serious’
McCrory in 2010: ‘When the Feds are also investigating you, that is very, very serious’
McCrory in 2015: FBI investigating pay-to-play prison scandal
Today, the Democratic Governors Association released a video featuring footage of NC Gov. Pat McCrory in 2010 saying federal investigations are “very, very serious.”
Fast forward to 2015: Gov. McCrory’s administration now faces two federal investigations.
The DGA’s video, entitled “Very, Very Serious,” highlights the federal investigation into the McCrory administration awarding multi-million dollar private prison contracts to a political donor, against the recommendation of top prison staff.
In 2010, McCrory told WNCN that “when the feds are investigating you, that is very, very serious.” McCrory went on to say that “from a state standpoint, it’s a bad reflection on the state.” [WNCN, 10/31/2010]
In 2015, local news coverage in North Carolina has focused on the current FBI investigation surrounding McCrory’s role in the prison pay-to-play scheme. McCrory has been dogged by attention on the investigation, including from fellow Republicans, who recently raised questions about McCrory’s involvement in the scandal during a legislative hearing.
“Pat McCrory is right: Federal investigations are very, very serious,” said Jared Leopold, communications director at the Democratic Governors Association. “It’s time for Governor McCrory to come clean with voters about these two pay-to-play investigations. With swirling ethics investigations and a sagging economy, it’s no wonder Pat McCrory is the most vulnerable governor in the country in 2016.”
The prison investigation comes as the latest in ethics scandals that are beginning to define the McCrory administration. “When the Observer’s editorial board endorsed Pat McCrory for governor in 2012, we said that we liked his long track record as a hard-working Charlotte mayor who avoided ethical missteps,” writes a Charlotte Observer editorial. “We can’t say the same about his ethics record as a first-term governor.”
Other editorial boards around the state including the Raleigh News and Observer and the Fayetteville Observer have also called McCrory’s ethics into question.
McCrory’s scandal is the second major federal investigation into the McCrory administration this fall, after reports this September of a probe by a federal criminal grand jury into no-bid contracts at the Department of Health and Human Services, several of which had gone to prominent political donors. And, earlier this summer, a McCrory Elections Board appointee and campaign donor had to resign in the midst of a major scandal involving favors for an Oklahoma sweepstakes gambling magnate who is now in prison.
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