A Well Kept Secret

If the Ethics Commission has ever found anyone guilty of an ethics violation it’s one of the best kept secrets in North Carolina. But, nonetheless, now the Commission says it’s going to investigate two lobbyists who had affairs with two members of House Speaker Thom Tillis’ staff to find out what “things of value” the lobbyists gave the staffers.
 
But how the Commission is going to handle its investigation is peculiar: It is going to investigate the lobbyists but not the former staffers. Because, the Commission says, the staffers may have had ethics lapses while they were staffers but since they’re no longer staffers the lapses have vanished (or at least vanished from the Commission’s jurisdiction).
 
It’s sort of like saying, We’re going to investigate the guy who drove the getaway car but not the guy who robbed the bank. But that’s how ethics laws work in North Carolina.
 
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Carter Wrenn

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A Well Kept Secret

If the Ethics Commission has ever found anyone guilty of an ethics violation it’s one of the best kept secrets in North Carolina. But, nonetheless, now the Commission says it’s going to investigate two lobbyists who had affairs with two members of House Speaker Thom Tillis’ staff to find out what “things of value” the lobbyists gave the staffers.
 
But how the Commission is going to handle its investigation is peculiar: It is going to investigate the lobbyists but not the former staffers. Because, the Commission says, the staffers may have had ethics lapses while they were staffers but since they’re no longer staffers the lapses have vanished (or at least vanished from the Commission’s jurisdiction).
 
It’s sort of like saying, We’re going to investigate the guy who drove the getaway car but not the guy who robbed the bank. But that’s how ethics laws work in North Carolina.
 
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Carter Wrenn

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