In court documents released Friday, former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes, who previously served in the U.S. House from 1999 until 2009, agreed to plead guilty to lying to the FBI. The Charlotte Observer writes that Hayes, who will enter his plea on Wednesday, faces up to six months in prison.
Back in April, just one day after Hayes announced that he would step down as party chair, he was indicted along with major Republican donor Greg Lindberg and two of his associates, John Palermo and John Gray, for their part in an alleged scheme to bribe GOP state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey last year. Prosecutors alleged that Lindberg made large donations to the state party that Hayes then used to forward $250,000 to Causey’s re-election campaign. They also say Lindberg promised Causey he’d set up a committee to make “independent” expenditures on the commissioner’s behalf, which he then seeded with $1.5 million.
According to the indictment, these activities were all meant as a bribe for Causey, “in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg’s business interests.” Chief among Lindberg’s desires was the removal a senior deputy insurance commissioner “who was responsible for overseeing regulation and the periodic examination” of one of Lindberg’s companies. Lindberg and Gray asked that Causey replace the deputy commissioner with Palermo, but it doesn’t appear any firing or hiring actually took place. (Causey cooperated with federal authorities in the investigation and was not charged.)
In Friday’s plea agreement, Hayes acknowledged that he “falsely stated to federal agents . . . that he had never spoken” with Causey “about personnel or personnel problems at the . . . Department of Insurance or about Greg Lindberg or John Gray.” The Observer writes that Hayes’ plea deal may increase the chances that he testifies against the other defendants in court.