Dave Horne, who was treasurer for former Gov. Mike Easley's gubernatorial campaign, struggled to understand or remember the answer a lot of questions during his testimony Tuesday.

Horne (at right studying a document with attorney David Long) testified that in his role as treasurer he over saw thousands and thousands of contributions and expenses and that he did not see it as his job to review the daily activities of the campaign.

Horne was asked by chairman Larry Leake about a memo that stated money could be funneled through the Democratic Governors Association by individuals who wouldn't necessarily want their names on a campaign finance report, "controversial" people as the memo explained it.

Horne said he didn't understand the concept.

"I'm not sure what's meant by 'controversial individuals' and I don't recall any discussions about that," Horne said.

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.

Dave Horne, a top official in former Gov. Mike Easley's gubernatorial campaigns was the first witnesses called in the State Board of Elections hearing Tuesday.

Horne said he had an ill-defined role that he could best describe as a "marriage counselor." 

"Easley was married to the campaign and sometimes they didn't get along and I was the mediator trying to solve problems that arose and help both Easley and the campaign better communicate," Horne said.

Gov. Mike Easley personally ordered a campaign official's secretary to pay invoices for plane flights that were actually meant to pay for repairs to Ealsey's Raleigh home, according to testimony.

Rebecca McGhee was a secretary for Easley campaign manager Dave Horne. In 2005, McGhee wrote a memo to her boss stating that invoices from McQueen Campbell's aviation company didn't include enough backup material.
Easley called McGhee and told her to cut the check.

McGhee said she explained that normally invoices for flights come with information such as a flight log. The documents from Campbell were for "various flights" and included no supporting information.
Easley told her that he was aware of what the invoice said and that she needed to prepare the check.

The invoices were false and meant to compensate Campbell for work he had done on Easley's house, Campbell testified Monday.