CHARLES TAYLOR CLAIMS HE MADE NO MONEY OFF MONEY-LAUNDERING BANK: A former congressman from western North Carolina says he never made any money off his shares in a Russian bank and sold off his stock before accusations of money laundering by banking authorities in Moscow, WLOS reports. The Bank of Russia revoked the license for Commercial Bank of Ivanovo last week. The Russian central bank said CBI broke money laundering rules “on multiple occasions,” according to a press release. Bloomberg News reported last week that Taylor, a Republican who served in the House for 16 years, owns 80% of the bank. “While I bought stock in the bank of Ivanovo several years ago, I have never been an officer or director in the Bank. Further, the Bank has never paid any dividends fees or other monies to me,” Taylor said in the statement, which he also sent to the Asheville Citizen Times.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article228977419.html

THIS NAVY TEST PILOT SAYS SEN. BROWN'S WIND ENERGY BAN IS MISGUIDED: I served in the U.S. Navy for 35 years as an aviator, test pilot, aircraft carrier commanding officer and commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet, retiring at the rank of vice admiral. I later served as assistant Secretary of the Navy, responsible for all Navy and Marine Corps installations around the world. Nothing is more important to me than protecting the safety of our military aviators and ensuring the continued viability of our military training facilities. With that in mind, Senate Bill 377, the “Military Base Protection Act,” recently introduced in the North Carolina Senate, caught my eye. The bill’s title actually is a misnomer. It has little to do with protecting military bases. Rather, the legislation really is just a ban on wind energy development along North Carolina’s coast. And while it is important that all development (not just wind development) be compatible with critical military missions, this bill is unnecessary.
https://www.wral.com/dennis-mcginn-this-navy-test-pilot-says-sen-brown-s-wind-energy-ban-bill-is-mis...

INDICTED BUSINESSMAN DONATED $2.4 MILLION TO LT. GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEES: Lindberg gave $1.4 million to the North Carolina Republican Council of State Committee, which Forest chairs. For that committee, Forest appeared in a tongue-in-cheek video that instructs voters how to commit voter fraud. Lindberg also gave $1 million to the NC-registered super PAC “Truth and Prosperity,” for which Forest has raised money. But Lindberg hasn’t contributed to Forest’s official campaign account, the Committee to Elect Dan Forest, Weatherman said. However, a party invitation sent by Forest’s committee in 2017 gives the impression that Lindberg donated the legal maximum to Forest’s campaign. The Committee to Elect Dan Forest invited people to celebrate Forest’s 50th birthday in October 2017, according to a digital invitation obtained by McClatchy. The invitation says a donor can be listed as a “co-chair” if he or she gives $5,200. Lindberg is listed as a co-chair.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article228828629.html

BRIBERY SCHEME INVOLVING NC GOP CHAIRMAN REACHED $1.5 MILLION: Greg Lindberg, two of his business associates and state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes were all indicted by a federal grand jury last month, but the indictments were sealed until Tuesday. They turned themselves in to the FBI in Charlotte on Tuesday, had first appearances before a U.S. magistrate judge and all pleaded not guilty. They're all accused of trying to bribe state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who got in touch with federal investigators and recorded conversations quoted in the indictment. The alleged scheme would have traded more than $1 million in political contributions in exchange for regulatory help at the department. Hayes, a former congressman and GOP candidate for governor, is also charged with three counts of lying to the FBI. On Monday he announced that he wouldn't seek another term as chairman of the state Republican Party, citing his health.
https://www.wral.com/nc-gop-chairman-major-political-donor-indicted-in-alleged-bribery-scheme/18300166/

CONFEDERATE VANDAL ARRESTED ON UNC CHAPEL HILL CAMPUS: At least one person will face charges after hate speech was found on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill early Sunday morning. According to an email send by Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz, two individuals defaced the Unsung Founders Memorial with “racist and other deplorable language” at about 1:30 a.m. University police also discovered an installation outside the Hanes Art Center had been vandalized with “hateful language and racial slurs,” school officials said. Guskewicz said both incidents are being investigated, and university police are in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant for a person identified on surveillance footage. Officials said that person is known to be affiliated with the Heirs to the Confederacy group.
https://www.wral.com/officials-person-affiliated-with-heirs-to-the-confederacy-to-be-charged-in-vand...