News & Observer photographer Shawn Rocco has compiled a photo gallery of images from the final day of the State Board of Elections hearings.

State Board of Elections chairman Larry Leake said the board would still like to talk to Ruffin Poole, a patronage boss, lawyer and aide to former Gov. Mike Easley.

The N.C. Court of Appeals was considering Friday a judge's order granting Poole the right to not testify to the board.

The Board of Elections members are, from left, Anita Earls, Bob Cordle, Larry Leake, Charles Winfree and Bill Peaslee.

Staff photo by Shawn Rocco.

Former Gov. Mike Easley's lawyer stunned the Board of Elections by asking the case to be referred to a criminal prosecutor.

Easley's campaign quietly paid for five flights, acknowleding they were campaign-related and should have been reported.

In 1972, then-Gov. Bob Scott took a much more aggressive approach to defendng questions about his campaign finance reports, columnist Rob Christensen notes.

Photographer Shawn Rocco has compiled a photo gallery of images from Thursday and photographer Travis Long has posted a video clip of testimony by Scott Falmlen, former executive director of the N.C. Democratic Party.

The State Board of Elections has finished for the day and intends to begin discussing the case in closed session Thursday morning.

Board chairman Larry Leake told lawyers he expected the board to emerge from their closed session at 9:45 a.m.

The day was a slog through details of how the N.C. Democratic Party handled its campaign money. But the big events of the day came when lawyers delivered their closing arguments.

EASLEY GOES ALL IN: Gov. Mike Easley, through his lawyer, says he's innocent but wants the case referred to the Wake County District Attorney.

NO HARM: Lawyers for the N.C. Democratic Party and Easley's campaign said in closing statements that no crimes have been committed. The party maintains it followed the law. Easley's campaign acknowledges it should have accounted for all of its flights. Both sides say they forfeited money to make up for the problems.

See a photo gallery of action from Thursday's final day of testimony and arguments by News & Observer photojournalist Shawn Rocco.

The State Board of Elections adjourned its hearing for the day at 4 p.m. and intends to call only one more witness — former N.C. Democratic Party chairman Scott Falmlen.

After former Gov. Mike Easley testified, two witnesses testified that they had little or no involvement or recollection of anything relevant to the hearing. It wouldn't have mattered if they did, because Easley's testimony was the story of the day. Some highlights:

NOT EVER: Easley directly contradicted the story told by McQueen Campbell — that Easley wanted Campbell to pay for repairs to his home with falsified invoices for flights. Both men can't be telling the truth. It's helpful to Campbell, then, that a campaign volunteer recalls Easley urging her to pay the invoice. Easley says he thought the invoice was for future flights.

FRUGAL GUY: Easley didn't like to spend money, so it caught Board chairman Larry Leake as a little curious that Easley never asked how much all those repairs to his house were costing him.

I MADE YOU: Easley began his testimony by reminding the board that he was the one who put a bunch of them on the board in the first place.

COORDINATION: The Democratic Party's defense is going to boil down to an argument that everyone has misunderstood the concept of a coordinated campaign. Yes, Easley was helping raise money for the party, but the party got to say what to do with it, according to the argument. Donors have testified they believed their money would be funneled to Easley.

News & Observer photojournalist Shawn Rocco has compiled a photo gallery of images from former Gov. Mike Easley's testimony. Also check out a gallery entitled "The Faces of Easley."

Day two was full of fuzzy memories, but that didn't prevent some revelations from emerging about the campaign finance strategy of former Gov. Mike Easley's campaigns.

Here's the coverage from Wednesday's News & Observer.

Easley's campaign had a strategy to funnel contributions to the N.C. Democratic Party or outside organizations to avoid campaign finance limits.

For a guy who doesn't have to appear at the hearing, Ruffin Poole's name is coming up a lot. Witnesses have testified that Easley's aide was a go-to guy to get things done, such as a boat permit. Poole was a fixer for Easley.

Columnist Rob Christensen notes that "The lid of the state Capitol dome has been peeled back this week. The State Board of Elections has the crowbar and flashlight, and the political operatives are scurrying for cover."

News & Observer photojournalists Shawn Rocco and Chris Seward have produced a photo gallery from Tuesday's action.

Photojournalist Travis Long has produced a video clip in which developer Gary Allen can't remember very much about writing $50,000 checks.

Click here to comment on the hearings.

News & Observer photojournalists Shawn Rocco and Chris Seward have created a photo gallery from Tuesday morning's State Board of Elections hearing.

State Board of Elections chairman Larry Leake asked a series of questions Tuesday suggesting that the board believes Mike Easley's gubernatorial campaign had a strategy to funnel contributions through organizations in an effort to skirt contributions limits.

Dave Horne, a lawyer who served as campaign treasurer for Easley's first and second campaigns, testified that he was not aware of such a strategy.

The board showed him several documents that suggested the campaign wanted contributions to go through political parties and organizations to get around the state's limit of $4,000 per individual for election cycle.

"This gives us the ability to raise money from entities thought prohibited such as corporations," Leake read from a document the board believes was prepared by a campaign official.
One of the organizations, according to testimony, was the Democratic Governors Association.

Update: Horne testified that Scott Falmlen, the former chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party was clear that money in the possession of the party was the party's to spend in accordance with the law.

"He was aware of the law. We both knew the law and he was very clear about who controls funds in the possession of the Democratic Party," Horne said.