Legislators move quickly to investigate indicted Rep. Wright.
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
By Chris Fitzsimon
In the style of his former mentor, now-jailed former House Speaker Jim Black, Rep. Thomas Wright refuses to budge. It appears he’ll keep a death grip on his General Assembly seat until a court or his fellow lawmakers pry him loose.
The first pry bar may have appeared on Tuesday, when a special legislative committee met to adopt ground rules for its probe of the Wilmington Democrat. The panel will take a holiday break, but will begin hearing evidence against Wright on Jan. 3.
The committee — chaired by Rep. Rick Glazier of Fayetteville — could recommend censure or expulsion to the full House. Or it could recommend no action at all, although that seems doubtful, given the revelations about Wright during a State Board of Elections hearing earlier this year.
The evidence collected during the board’s investigation was turned over to the Wake County district attorney, and last week, Wright was indicted on six felony charges by a Wake grand jury. Among the charges he faces, Wright is accused of fraudulently obtaining $160,000 in bank loans for a foundation he led in Wilmington and for converting $185,000 in campaign contributions to his personal use.
Wright has refused to heed calls from Gov. Mike Easley and House Speaker Joe Hackney for Wright to resign the seat he has held for eight terms. Although he has not yet been convicted of any crime, the evidence presented against him casts an ethical pall over the General Assembly. He should have stepped down months ago. (more…)
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