11:40 a.m. – Leake says the donations from Wilmington businessmen Lanny Wilson and Nick Garrett account for the $9,000 that the Democratic Party has to forfeit.

"We want the candidate to accept responsibility," he said, referring to his call for a change in state campaign finance laws.

Leake says the candidate assembles his campaign team and should be ultimately responsible for how the team operates.

He says he doesn't know if the Easley campaign has $100,000 in its accounts to pay the penalty the elections board assessed. Then he jokingly referred to Easley's fundraising prowess that came out during testimony in the four-day hearing.

"I would hope Gov. Easley could go out and raise the money if needed," he said with a smile.

11:35 a.m. – "I got what I asked for," Easley's attorney, Tommy Hicks, said after the hearing.

Hicks surprised the board Thursday by saying Easley wanted...

5:40 p.m. – Leake adjourns the hearing and says the board will meet behind closed doors Friday morning to discuss how to handle the Easley case before announcing its decision at about 9:45 a.m.

5:20 p.m. – Bob Hall, executive director of political watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, which filed a complaint that led to the elections board hearing, says documents introduced in the hearing show the emperor has no clothes.

Hall said it would be "ludicrous" for Easley's campaign not to want to know how much money Easley was bringing in to the Democratic Party through the "governor's fund" within the party.

The campaign had a "conscious plan" to route as many expenses as possible through the party, he says. He says he's also worried about corporate money being brought to the party by Easley.

"It's one thing to have a political party that is organized in support of a ticket," he...

4:25 p.m. – Don't forget to check out the WRAL News special at 7:30 p.m. for a recap and observations about Easley's testimony.

3:55 p.m. – Board Chairman Larry Leake sends the hearing into recess until 9:30 a.m. Thursday, saying Scott Falmlen, the former executive director of the state Democratic Party, will be the last witness the board wants to call.

The lawyers for Easley, his campaign committee and the Democratic Party say they don't plan on calling any witnesses after the board finishes its questioning.

3:50 p.m. – Cari Boyce, a former spokeswoman for Easley, says she worked with campaign officials to schedule his travel. She also dealt with the campaign fundraisers and would filter information for Easley.

Boyce says she communicated with Campbell during the 2004 campaign but his security staff and campaign workers would have scheduled trips on Campbell's plane.

She flew on Campbell's...

4:05 p.m. – Elections board Chairman Larry Leake says he needs to meet with attorneys from the Attorney General's Office for the rest of the afternoon. The hearing is in recess until Wednesday morning after a brief hearing about a possible runoff election for the Wake County school board.

3:40 p.m. – Hearing in recess for 15 minutes.

3:25 p.m. – Political consultant Mac McCorkle says he's known Easley since the late 1980s and managed some of his campaigns. He helped him stake out positions on issues in the 2000 gubernatorial campaign and helped to a lesser degree in 2004.

He says he wasn't involved in fundraising or campaign operations. He primarily worked on polling and with the media, and he also listened to Easley vent about his frustrations with the campaign.

McCorkle put some of campaign manager Jay Reiff's start-up expenses on his bill to the campaign. "I didn't advance any money to...

4:45 p.m. – Hearing adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

4:40 p.m. – Under questioning by Democratic Party lawyer Jim Cooney, Garrett says no one ever talked to him about campaign finance laws.

4:30 p.m. – Wilmington developer Nick Garrett says he worked with Lanny Wilson to raise money for the Easley campaign. He said he also wrote checks to the Democratic Party, one of which included a notation "Easley campaign." He says it was his understanding that the money would be used by the campaign.

"We all got together, and we thought it was a way to get money to the campaign," Garrett said, adding that all the money he gave to the party was to benefit Easley.

Garrett said he never talked to Democratic Party officials about his donations.

"I don't recall any other (Democratic candidates) that I wanted to support," he said.

4:20 p.m. – Under...