The former chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party will plead guilty to lying to the FBI, according to newly-filed court documents by attorneys for former chairman Robin Hayes.
It’s the first guilty plea to come out of a case involving the GOP chairman and a North Carolina businessman, who prosecutors say attempted to bribe the state’s insurance commissioner.
The businessman, Greg Lindberg, allegedly worked with the former party chairman to funnel $2 million to the commissioner’s campaign in exchange for the removal of a deputy who oversaw Lindberg’s business. Lindberg allegedly sought to handpick the deputy’s replacement.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey secretly recorded his conversations with both Lindberg and Hayes, and turned the recordings over the FBI.
Under the terms of the plea, Hayes admits he lied to the FBI when he said he’d never spoken to the insurance commissioner about department personnel or about Lindberg.
