No, I’m not in Denver.  I can’t say I’m totally okay with that – not when my statehouse compadres from across the US are texting me from fabulous press parties, and especially not when 75,000 people are expected to pack a stadium to watch a candidate accept a presidential nomination.  That’s a spectacle I’d love to see.

Still, it makes sense not to be there.  As my G'boro friend Mark Binker likes to say, “Conventions are kabuki.”  There’s no surprise ending, no plot twist - no story there that a thousand other journalists aren’t chasing, too.

And for the sky-high price of sending a reporter to Denver and St. Paul, WUNC can cover dozens of stories here at home in NC – stories the big networks wouldn’t touch.  That I’m definitely okay with, bitter or not.  And hey, there’s no shortage of multimedia coverage I can absorb on my couch, with my shoes off, like normal people do.   There are far worse ways to go through two weeks of speechifyin’.

Verbing weirds language, DNC edition 

From the Obama press handlers tonight:

"Satellite?"  Is that “appearing via satellite,” or “flying by over your head, glittering and remote?”  Depends on your point of view, I guess.   Come on, people, we’re not paying by the word on telegrams anymore.  Buy a preposition.  Pixels are cheap.

Seriously, though, I gotta say – Michelle Obama was great.  She was smart and compelling, plain-spoken and powerful.  Her story about Obama driving her and their newborn daughter home from the hospital was textbook perfect.   So when’s she running for office?

Wright back

Former State Rep. Thomas Wright was back in court today for round 2 of his criminal trial.  During Round 1 in April, he was sentenced to 6 years for obtaining a loan under false pretenses and pocketing charitable donations. This time, he’s charged with felony obstruction of justice for filing false campaign reports that failed to include the provenance or usage of $185K worth of contributions.

Today’s courtroom scene was a far cry from April’s, when the benches were packed. The only folks watching today were a sparse handful of reporters, Wright’s wife and sons, and Fern Shubert, the former Republican state senator who’s anointed herself Wright’s standard–bearer for reasons that are less than clear to most of us observers.

Anyway, the day started with an argument by defense attorney Doug Harris that the charge against Wright doesn’t fit what he did.  Harris says obstruction of justice, by definition, involves an attempt to interfere in or block the judicial process – something no one has (yet) accused Wright of.  Prosecutors countered that Wright’s filing of false campaign reports violates common law. After giving it some thought, Judge Donald Stephens denied Harris’s motion to dismiss, but left the door open for Harris to reintroduce his motion after state testimony concludes.

Opening arguments were short, simple, and not terribly compelling.

Here’s Wake DA Colon Willoughby's opener:

And Wright defense attorney Doug Harris's: 

Sorry the audio's rough.  It's a courtroom, not a studio.

On the stand

The first state witness was Johnnie Umphlett, the SBI Agent who conducted the investigation into Wright’s finances.  In what could be a hint about where this is headed, Asst. DA David Sherlin’s questioning of Umphlett took a straight line toward Wright’s involvement in two controversial measures involving the Hugo Neu landfill and nurse anesthetists.  Wright’s critics say he pushed the former and stymied the latter while collecting fat (and unreported) campaign checks from corresponding interest groups. 

On the stand, Umphlett testified Wright knew there were rumors he’d intentionally failed to report receiving donations from Hugo Neu executives until he’d won reelection in 2006. Umphlett says Wright told him he didn’t need to hide anything.

 
Umphlett's Wright/Hugo Neu testimony is here.

Then there was the 2005 bill the nurse anesthetists didn’t like.  Wright, who was House Health Chairman at the time, effectively blocked the bill even after his committee had overwhelmingly approved it.  A couple of months later, Wright collected $18K from a nurse anesthetist fundraiser, but reported only $5K of the take on his disclosure reports.   Umphlett testified Wright told him he held the bill back because it was “bad policy,” not because of the money.  

Hear it for yourself:

Harris:   Sloppy, yes. Criminal, no.

In his cross-examination and again later in the hallway, defense atty Doug Harris argued all the prosecution is proving is bad bookkeeping.

"I think the problem is, they’re proving something that’s not a crime. They’re trying to make something that’s, you know, certainly not proper – you’re certainly supposed to file your campaign reports right – but it doesn’t mean it’s obstruction of justice if you don’t. "

Harris also argued that other Dem leaders received a lot more money from interests on the other side of the nurse anesthetist bill.  I don't know whether his allegations are true – he didn’t provide proof, and I haven’t found it – but even if they are, what does that have to do with whether his client is guilty?  “He started it” doesn’t even work on the playground, let alone in the courtroom.

Next up

Tomorrow, Deputy State Elections Director Kim Strach returns to the stand with her Pie Charts of Doom.  The almost-all-female jury seemed to respond really well to Strach's opening testimony this afternoon.  Smart money says tomorrow’s slam dunk has her name on it.

Harris says he doesn’t know yet what if any witnesses he’ll call, including Thomas Wright.  So far, he says, he hasn’t heard anything he feels requires a response. But realistically, there isn’t much anyone can say to counter the huge disparities between Wright’s bank records and his campaign reports.  And, given that Wright did himself no favors on the stand in April, I’d be surprised to see him up there again this time around.

Comments? Drop me a line.