North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey is urging President Donald Trump not to pardon disgraced businessman Greg Lindberg.
Causey wrote Trump a letter Tuesday (he also publicly posted that letter) detailing his "deep concern" that Trump might pardon Lindberg.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Lindberg was once the top political donor to the North Carolina Republican Party, before accusations of fraud, attempted bribery and other misdeeds brought down his Durham-based business empire of insurance companies.
Causey, a Republican, risked his political career to turn on Lindberg and top GOP officials. He wore a wire for the FBI to record Lindberg and associates of his as they sought Causey's cooperation in firing a regulator in the state insurance department who was sniffing around Lindberg's business dealings. The investigation led to former Republican Congressman Robin Hayes, who ran the NCGOP at the time, pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his involvement in Lindberg's efforts to sway Causey.
Lindberg's bribery case has had a convoluted legal history. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. But he won an appeal and had his conviction thrown out. After that, prosecutors brought the charges again in a case that has yet to reach a resolution.
Other criminal accusations have been more cut-and-dried; Lindberg pleaded guilty last year to running a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme that victimized thousands of people who had insurance policies through his companies.
Causey wrote to Trump, "Mr. Lindberg was lawfully recorded on a wire attempting to bribe me, in my official capacity as North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance, to remove a senior department official who had identified and exposed serious financial improprieties within Mr. Lindberg’s insurance enterprises."
Lindberg's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday on Causey's letter. A website that advocates for Lindberg says he has been the victim of "political targeting and prosecutorial misconduct," claims that echo the language Trump has used to criticize his own criminal convictions.
In his letter, Causey said Lindberg is undergoing a "well-financed" push to get Trump to pardon him. But he warned Trump that doing so would be "signaling that wealth, influence and persistence can outweigh accountability."
Two months ago, according to public filings in Washington, Lindberg hired Trump's former bodyguard Keith Schiller, who is now a federal lobbyist. The sole issue listed on the filing is to seek a pardon for Lindberg.
Trump has pardoned many white collar criminals while in office, including Hayes, but he didn't pardon Lindberg during his first term.