ROBIN HAYES WILL PLEAD GUILTY TO LYING TO THE FBI: According to his agreement with prosecutors, Hayes will plead guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI. In a court document, he acknowledged that in August 2018 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.” Prosecutors said while the maximum sentence for the offense is five years, Hayes could be sentenced to up to six months, or serve no time at all under sentencing guidelines. The plea deal says prosecutors “recommend a sentence at the low end of the . . . range.” Hayes could not be reached. His attorney, Kearns Davis, would not comment.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article235540347.html

BOTH NC SENATORS THROW MILITARY UNDER THE BUS FOR TRUMP: North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis voted a second time Wednesday to back President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration that allowed the military to shift millions from construction projects in North Carolina to help build a wall on the southern border. In between those votes, the Department of Defense announced the $3.6 billion in projects that would see their funding shifted to the border wall. Included in that amount was $47 million in active projects from North Carolina, including $15.3 million for a new ambulatory care center at Camp Lejeune to replace “substandard, inefficient, decentralized and uncontrolled facilities.” “I once again supported President Trump’s emergency declaration because Democrats refuse to provide the President with the tools and resources he needs to address the crisis at our southern border and keep America safe,” Tillis said in a statement after Wednesday’s vote.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article235313467.html

11% OF NC CHILDREN LIVE IN POVERTY-STRICKEN NEIGHBORHOODS: Eleven percent of the state’s children live in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation set for release Tuesday. Black and Latino children are more likely to live in neighborhoods where 30% or more of the residents live in poverty, according to a press release from NC Child. Black children are six times more likely to live in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to the press release, and Latino children are five times more likely to live in these neighborhoods. Middle-class black families are more likely to live in low-income neighborhoods than low-income white families, according to a New York Times report. The disparity was attributed to historical housing discrimination and the racial wealth gap. The increased likelihood of black families living in low-income neighborhoods “is not because those parents are working any less hard than other parents,” Tucker said.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article235391222.html

LATEST REMAP EFFORT PROVES NONPARTISAN REDISTRICTING SYSTEM IS A MUST: It should not be a surprise to anyone that when the court takes up the latest submissions, they are rejected and the expert referee for the case Nathan Persily is directed to develop more appropriate maps. The lesson here is simple. It can be addressed right away. Legislators lack the ability – either because of their own incumbency or partisan bias – to draw election districts that put the interests of voters and representation of communities first. Only imposition of a non-partisan system will fix it. Legislators can act now to pass an amendment to the State Constitution, to require a non-partisan system drawing legislative, congressional and ALL other election district maps. It is past time to end unfair and unconstitutional representation of North Carolinians in Congress and the General Assembly.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-latest-remap-effort-proves-nonpartisan-redistricting-system-is-a-must...

LINDBERG WANTS BRIBERY CHARGES DROPPED ON TECHNICALITY: Businessman Greg Lindberg is asking a federal court to throw out his indictment on bribery charges in a case that also ensnared the then-chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party. Lindberg filed the motion Wednesday in the Charlotte-based court’s Western District. Lindberg and two associates, along with then-GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, were indicted last spring on charges of conspiracy and bribery for their alleged attempts to influence state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican. In their motion to dismiss, Lindberg’s lawyers rely in part on a 2016 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and established higher standards for proving corruption. The court said the definition of “official acts” was too broad.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article235251527.html