House Oversight Committee Co-Chairs Op-Ed
"Political meddling threatens the SBI. Here’s what we’re doing about it."
Raleigh, NC – The Raleigh News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Durham Herald-Sun published an op-ed from Reps. Jake Johnson and Harry Warren on their committee's investigation into allegations of political interference by Gov. Cooper's senior staff over North Carolina's top law enforcement agency.
Below are excerpts. The op-ed can be read online here. It will run in print in all three papers tomorrow.
In 2014, the N.C. General Assembly moved the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to improve its operating efficiency. DPS would provide the SBI with administrative support, but the law made clear the Bureau’s independence.
Critics, including then-Attorney General Roy Cooper, warned that moving the Bureau could make it susceptible to pressure from the governor.
Who could have guessed that staff for Cooper, now governor, would be the ones accused of trying to intimidate the SBI director and interfere with the Bureau’s staffing decisions?
This is precisely what SBI Director Bob Schurmeier alleged in sworn testimony to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which we chair.
...
That is why the House budget that passed with bipartisan support last week completely severs the links between the SBI and DPS.
This reasonable step to insure SBI independence removes any possible confusion over the loyalties of the director’s staff and any leverage the governor would have through DPS bureaucratic slow walking.
Schurmeier testified that Gov. Cooper’s Chief of Staff Kristi Jones and General Counsel Eric Fletcher sought his resignation and threatened the SBI with an expensive investigation into his management in a series of three meetings in late 2022. The pretext, he said, was a personnel complaint.
...
We have invited Jones, Fletcher and Gray to testify before our committee Tuesday, April 18, as the next step in bringing transparency and clarity to this situation. We are glad to be able to do this oversight of the executive branch in the public and bipartisan forum.
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