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DAVI 7 UNC-CH NC 27599-0001 10 ZTAi - ••■■mini -FRT^r 1 ' **CHILL BEPHRTMENT r LIBRARY CB# 393a PO BOX 8090 CHAPEL HILL a ©Dies VOLUME 98 - NUMBER 38 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, /, SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 TELEPHONE 919-682-2913 PRICE 50 CENTS NC remap won’t necessarily produce Democratic majorities Rev. LaMont Johnson, Sr., pastor, West Durham Baptist Church, places a cream pie in the face of Adrian Bullock, Youth Minister at the church to the delight of kids. See photos on page 6. Bribery case raises focus on GOP rising star and fundraising By Emery P. Dalesio RALEIGH (AP) - After a North Carolina insurance magnate and mega-political do nor was indicted on bribery charges in April, some politicians who received his cam paign dollars offloaded his money by giving it to charity. But Republican party organizations tied to a GOP rising star in Congress show no signs of giving up nearly a quarter-million dollars from indicted businessman Greg Lindberg. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mark Walker says the North Carolina congressman didn’t control, and therefore couldn’t give away, most of the over $238,000 that Lindberg gave his campaign and affiliated committees. However, an elections expert said Walker still benefited indirectly from the money that passed through his committees because it raised his clout in GOP circles. The situation illustrates how political donations benefiting federal candidates can flow through a network of supporting groups, obscuring where the money winds up and what it’s used for. Walker is an up-and-comer in GOP politics who once considered challenging incum bent Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis next year. Lindberg contributed to Walker and his committees during a period when the Dur ham businessman was North Carolina’s largest political donor, giving more than $5 million since 2016 to state and federal candidates and committees. He favored Repub lican causes and politicians, but also gave to Democrats. In April, federal prosecutors unsealed indictments charging Lindberg, two associates and former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes with trying to bribe state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. Lindberg wanted special treatment for his insurance businesses and planned to funnel up to $2 million for Causey’s 2020 re-election campaign, prosecutors said. Causey, a Republican, reported the approach to federal investigators and helped them build their case. He faces no charges. A trial is scheduled later this year. Walker was questioned last year by federal prosecutors, who described the congress man as pressuring the state’s insurance commissioner on behalf of Lindberg as the investor dangled a $150,000 donation. Amid the scandal, Walker donated thousands in Lindberg’s direct campaign contri butions to charities, but far more Lindberg money had also gone to Walker-affiliated committees and was shared with political partners like the Republican National Com mittee. The money shared with other GOP entities benefited the congressman, too, said Adav Noti, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who now works for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. . “He still gets a benefit by having fundraised for the party,” Noti said. “He gets senior ity benefits, committee assignment benefits.” The Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Com mittee wouldn’t describe what they have done with Lindberg’s money. RNC spokes woman Cassie Smedile said Lindberg’s criminal case has yet to be determined, adding: “The RNC uses the contributions we receive to win elections.” Walker campaign spokesman Jack Minor said that except for the donations to the campaign, which Walker gave to charities, everything else was passed along to Repub lican entities that he doesn’t control. Walker gave Lindberg’s maximum $5,400 campaign contribution to North Carolina Right to Life; a Greensboro family welfare organization; and a charity focused on re search behind a test for early breast cancer detection. “The campaign has not benefited from any of these funds, giving every dollar it had control of to charities that protect life, stop domestic violence, and prevent breast can cer,” Minor wrote in an email. “Congressman Mark Walker has served the people of North Carolina with the highest degree of integrity and honor.” Lindberg’s $150,000 contribution in early 2018 plays a prominent role in the federal indictment. The indictment says it went to “Public Official A,” whom public records indicate is Walker. The con gressman “was not named in the indictment because he is not and never has been a target of the investiga tion and has committed no wrongdoing.” Minor wrote in an email. Lindberg sent the money to Walker’s Victory Committee, which raises money for Walker’s campaign and the RNC, the same day he learned Walker might help sway Causey, according to the criminal indict ment. Walker twice spoke to Causey on Lindberg’s behalf, and told the regulator “that Lindberg was doing good things for North Carolina business,” prosecutors said. Because Lindberg had already contributed the legal limit to Walker’s campaign, the big influx went to the national party, according to campaign records Minor provided. Walker also didn’t control and couldn’t return $78,200 Lindberg gave another Walker committee, Minor wrote. All but about $500 of that Lindberg contribution to the Walker Freedom Fund went to the NRCC, which helps elect Republicans to Congress, FEC records provided by Minor show. By Gary D. Robertson RALEIGH (AP) - Redis tricting experts say newly redrawn North Carolina legislative districts are skewed less toward Re publicans than the cur rent plans, which judges rejected for political bias, but they also say the maps wouldn’t necessarily guar antee Democratic majori ties in 2020. A three-judge panel is now . reviewing the new state House and Senate dis tricts approved this week by the General Assembly. The judges’ Sept. 3 rul ing rejecting the 2017 maps marked the first major de cision in a partisan gerry mandering case since the U.S. Supreme Court decid ed in June to stay out of 1 NAACP Monthly Meeting The Durham Branch of the NAACP will host its monthly General body meeting on Sunday, Sep tember 22, 4 p.m., at Kyles Temple AME Zion Church, 409 Dunstan St., Please come out and support your local NAACP Branch. For more information call 919-452-0798 or 919-740-1298. Data: Most Chicago bicyclist tickets issued in black areas CHICAGO (AP) - Fewer bicyclists are being ticketed in Chicago but most of the ci tations are going to riders in low-income, predominantly African American neighbor hoods. The. Chicago Tribune ob tained figures from the police last month under the Freedom of Information Act showing bike citations dropped from more than 4,000 in 2016 to 2,196 last year. Fewer than 600 tickets were issued through late June. But the newspaper reports that over half of the citations were issued in majority Afri can American neighborhoods on the South and West sides in 2018 and 2019, mirroring the numbers in preceding years. Transportation equity ad vocates say the practice of ticketing bikers in impover ished areas is “racist and dis criminatory.” Chicago officials and the Illinois attorney general ap proved a police consent de cree in January, heightening scrutiny on misdemeanor ar rests. such controversies while keeping the door open for states to act. The judges didn’t order politically competitive dis tricts. Rather, they told legislative mapmakers to avoid using partisan data. The judges now will decide whether more changes are needed. REV. DOUGLAS E. MOORE Death of Leader of 1957 Royal Ice Cream Sit-In Rev. Douglas E. Moore was the leader of the 1957 Royal IceCream sit-in in Durham. Along with six others including students, they held the first sit-in in North Caro lina. A description of Rev. Moore’s leadership in the Royal Ice Cream sit-in is included in the NC Historical Marker essay that accompanies the marker that is located on Rox boro and Dowd Streets in Durham: The 1960 Greensboro sit-ins sparked a national move ment but were not the first such action. Individual and group protest actions prior to 1960, generally isolated and often without wider impact, took place across the state and region. A protest in 1957 in Durham had wider con sequence, as it led to a court case testing the legality of segregated facilities. The Royal Ice Cream Company had a doorway on the Dowd Street side with a 'White Only’ sign and, on Roxboro Street, a sign marked 'Colored Only.’ A partition separated the two sections inside the building. On June 23, 1957, Rev. Douglas Moore, pastor of Asbury Temple Methodist Church, and six others assem bled at the church to plan the protest. The young African Americans moved over to Royal Ice Cream and took up booths. When they refused to budge, the manager called the police who charged them with trespassing. Newspa per coverage in the Durham-Raleigh area was mixed. The Durham papers printed the story on the front-page the next day but it was buried inside the Raleigh News and Observer; The Carolinian, an African American newspa per, placed it on the front page. On June 24 the protestors were found guilty of tres passing and each fined $10 plus court costs. On appeal the case went to Superior Court and a jury trial. An all- white jury rendered a guilty verdict of trespass on each defendant. The case was appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court that upheld the law regarding segregat ed facilities. On July 15, 1958, the seven protesters paid fines totaling $433.25. Attorneys appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court but the High Court refused to hear the case. Editor’s Note: While Rev. Moore was the leader of the action, David Stith came up with the idea, according to Miss Virginia Williams. It was organized at the Harriett Tubman YWCA at East 312 Umestead St. Obituary Continues On Page 12
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