Former Democrat State Lawmaker Indicted on 9 Counts of Lying to Investigators

RALEIGH – There are lots of rules regulating campaign finance operations for candidates running for public office. Some are quite nit-picky, others are about as direct and clear as they can be. Of the latter category, candidate committees are required to, you know, report the amount of contributions they receive.

That’s why watchdogs were alarmed when they sniffed a trail to former N.C. House member Rodney Moore, a Democrat, and found an unreported stash well into the six-figures. Making matters worse, when investigators began asking questions, Moore allegedly lied to them…a lot.

A grand jury indicted Moore on nine counts of making false statements to investigators.

From WBTV:

“A grand jury Monday indicted former Democratic Rep. Rodney Moore on nine counts of making false statements to investigators who found that he failed to report more than $141,000 in campaign contributions and expenditures.

His former campaign manager, Tammy Neal, was indicted on a charge of felony obstruction of justice, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office. […]

Last October, the state elections board unanimously found that Moore failed to report contributions over at least seven years. Investigators had to subpoena his bank records after Moore failed to provide them.

Moore reportedly gave the excuse that he is merely a bad bookkeeper. Something tells us that is not going to hold up in court.

You can review all the details of what election officials found, including how he withdrew cash from campaign accounts, at WBTV here.

As previously mentioned, some campaign finance laws are stringent, but there is no excuse for the blatant violations of law indicated in Moore’s case, ‘bad bookkeeper’ or not.