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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
WEBCommentary Contributor
Author:  Michael J. Gaynor
Bio: Michael J. Gaynor
Date:  February 5, 2007
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Topic category:  Other/General

Duke Case: Sleazy Easley

Sleazy: "marked by cheapness of character or quality."

Easley: Michael B. Easley, current Governor and former Attorney General of North Carolina, Democrat.

In "The Duke case is a DEMOCRAT scandal," posted on October 17, 2006, I began: "'60 Minutes' never mentioned during is two-part segment on the Duke case broadcast last Sunday night that the Duke case is a Democrat scandal. But, IT IS! Durham County, North Carolina is a Democrat bastion; Durham County's appointed District Attorney Michael B. Nifong is a Democrat; the North Carolina Governor (Michael Easley) who appointed Mr. Nifong is a Democrat; and North Carolina Attorney General (Roy Cooper) who has not intervened in the interests of justice, is a Democrat."

When it came to reigning in the rogue prosecutor, the Governor and the Attorney General feigned impotence, refusing to pay the political cost of doing what they, as lawyers, surely must have know was their own ethical responsibility to do: stand up for to Mr. Nifong and for the United States Constitution, due process of law, equal protection of law and prosecutors as fair and impartial ministers of justice instead of racial panderers and political opportunists.

North Carolina's Republican United States Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr and Republican United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have not been distinguishing themselves in the Duke case, but they are not North Carolina's Governor and Attorney General and the Duke case was, is and always will be a DEMOCRAT scandal.

Astonishingly, Governor Easley is finally maneuvering in a futile attempt to ad his name to the long list of Nifong victims.

NO WAY, Governor: you should have known better, and acted faster.

Benjamin Niolet and Jeff Neff, staff writers for The News & Observer, wrote an article titled "Easley: Nifong broke his word," published on February 3, 2007.

What IS news is not that Durham County, North Carolina District Attorney Michael B. Nifong broke his word, but that Governor Easley finally said so, on January 22, 2007, in New York (and The News & Observer did not rush to report it).

Niolet and Neff: "Gov. Mike Easley said last month that picking Mike Nifong to be Durham's district attorney was the worst appointment of his career, and he said Nifong broke his promise not to run for the office."

Voters of Durham County, North Carolina, take note: NOW Governor Easley is saying that Mr. Nifong promised not to run for elect and broke that promise.

Did Governor Easley mention it before the May 2, 2006 primary?

NO!

Did Governor Easley mention it before Election Day 2006 (November 7)?

NO!

Governor Easley waited until Mr. Nifong became a pariah in all but the eyes of the deluded before mentioning it.

What a guy!

He and Mr. Nifong deserve each other.

Niolet and Neff:  

"Easley told law students in New York that Nifong's decision to seek office in last fall's election almost prompted him to consider yanking Nifong from office.

"'I almost un-appointed him when he decided to run," Easley said. 'I rate that as probably the poorest appointment that I've,' the governor trailed off before adding 'I've made some good ones.'"

ALMOST?

If Governor Easley contemplated un-appointing Mr. Nifong, how come he never mentioned Mr. Nifong's broken promise when it would have helped voters and discredited the persecutor of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans (aka the Duke Three)?

Niolet and Neff:

"The governor said Nifong had done a poor job.

"'You don't need me to tell you that,' he said."

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE DUKE THREE NEEDED YOU, GOVERNOR EASLEY? 

The North Carolina State Bar and the Conference of North Carolina District Attorneys showed some leadership the month before Governor Easley owned up to being lied to (suckered?) by Mr. Nifong (and the Bar and the Conference moved with something akin to "all deliberate speed" instead of alacrity).

Niolet and Neff: "Easley said he was...comfortable with the appointment because Nifong said he would not run for the office."

If I were a North Carolinian, I would not find any of that reassuring.

Niolet and Neff:

"Easley criticized Nifong for his statements, in which Nifong insisted to the nation that a racially motivated gang rape had taken place and that lacrosse players were the culprits.

"'That's how all this mess got started,' Easley said. 'He challenged the defense lawyers by talking about the case, calling the kids "hooligans."'"

Mr. Nifong made the statements BEFORE the May 2, 2006 Democrat primary.

Governor Easley got around to criticizing Mr. Nifong (whom he said he already realized had lied to him) in January 2007.

And some people think the federal government was slow in responding to Hurricane Katrina!

Niolet and Neff: "That left defense lawyers no choice but to fight back, the Governor said."

RIGHT, Governor Easley! 

Niolet & Neff: "'You can't comment on that except in the courtroom, and when you do, then the defense lawyers have to stand up for their client,' Easley said. 'Then it's on. All the rules are out the window, then you have chaos, and that's why those rules are so important and that's what you got in this case. It's chaotic. It looks bad for North Carolina. It looks bad for the DA's office. It looks bad for the criminal justice system in general.'"

It's a DEMOCRAT scandal, Governor Easley!

When leadership was required, neither you nor your fellow Democrat Roy Cooper would stand up and say what you finally said, in New York, in January 2007.

It needed saying much earlier, Governor Come Lately. 

Niolet & Neff: "As attorney general, Easley opposed a 1996 law opening files for death row inmates, the first step toward the current [open discovery] law. His office fought the law at the legislature and then challenged it in court, until the state Supreme Court upheld the law in 1998."

So much for where your heart is, Governor.

"mmnc" commented on the LieStoppers message board on January 22, 2007:

"Governor (W)Easley has not exactly been a tower of leadership here.

"He probably threw in the 'racist remarks comment' to stay in good graces with his fellow NCCU law school grads.

"Keeping his Democrat legislative majority depends on keep[ing] an active 'get out the vote' mentality with the large black voter base. The vote will never go Republican, he depends on the monolithic Democrat vote with a big turnout."

 Right.

"rds248" did not mince words:

"I think with these comments Easley has surpassed Brodhead in earning the 'coward of the HOAX' award.

"He has a lot of nerve making these statements in NY weeks after pretty much every human being on the planet has jumped on Nifong. Where was he when he could have had some influence to speed up the process? He let this go on for months with no comment from his office, no pressure, nothing. He probably has a whole room filled with letters urging him to do something. He did nothing because he was a COWARD who was afraid to speak out because of his need for political approval, and his FEAR that it would cost him votes. And he still hasn't said a word about it in the state that he is supposed to be governing.

"Now he says that he 'almost' decided to yank Nifong when he decided to run, and he expects people to believe that? HE is a pathetic excuse for a human being. No actually he's just a typical politician.

"He 'almost' yanked Nifong, just like Clinton 'almost' got Bin Laden.

"Really pitiful.

"And as much as I don't pity Nifong, talk about kicking a dog when he's already down. Easley figured at this point he had better join the crowd."

'"lskinner" perceived another purpose: "it seems to me that Easley is basically sending a message to the State Bar: 'Go ahead and crucify Nifong if you want to. It's no skin off my nose'."

A federal investigation (and a United States Attorney General with the courage to order it) are desperately needed by the good people of North Carolina.

Michael J. Gaynor

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Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.


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