Reynolds gave $50,000 to House GOP group

The contribution is not unusual, according to David Howard, a spokesman for Reynolds American.

"We will engage with elected officials and their staffs to be able to communicate the company's viewpoints and perspectives on a variety of issues," Howard said this week.

Reynolds is a well-known political player in the state, with contributions from its PAC and corporate executives showing up on campaign finance reports for elected officials with some regularity. According to the National Institute for Money in State Politics, the company's PAC contributed $76,250 directly to state legislative candidates in 2014.

What makes the contribution to House Legislative Partners noteworthy is that the nonprofit group typically does not have to report who gives it money. Such "social welfare groups" have created a new conduit for campaign spending that is exempt from the contribution limits and disclosure requirements that define the post-Watergate campaign disclosure requirements candidates must abide by.

Under the bill, e-cigarettes were to be taxed at 5 cents per milliliter of the nicotine-containing liquid used in the so-called vapor devices. Opponents of the measure noted that cigarettes are taxed at 45 cents per pack, so the state would lose money as smokers switch to e-cigarettes.

"Yeah, a nickel is great for industry, of course – that's low. But what about those revenues in North Carolina that we potentially will lose and this could bring in?" Rep. Becky Carney, R-Mecklenburg, asked at the time. "If you’re going to raise your hand on a tax, make it count."

But backers of the tax argued, in part, that the favorable tax treatment was necessary to help land a new e-cigarette manufacturing plant in the state.

"I believe within the next two days, three days you will hear of an announcement of a new industry, not a new industry, not new in name to us, but a new opening of a factory in North Carolina that will provide about close to 300 new jobs for us, and for the first time since I've been here, this industry is asking that we set the excise tax," Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie, said during the debate.

Days after the House vote, R.J. Reynolds announced it would open a new manufacturing facility for its Vuse vapor product in Tobaccoville. The bill passed the state Senate and was signed by Gov. Pat McCrory the same month.

David Howard said Reynolds wrote its check to House Legislative Partners on Oct. 8, 2014. It's worth noting that the year before, the company made a similar contribution to a nonprofit created to boost the fortunes of McCrory.

Corporations like Reynolds are not able to give to political candidates, and $50,000 far exceeds the contribution limits that can go to an individual running for office. Even with a paper trail, such transactions do not prove a quid pro quo, and it's impossible to say who else might have contributed to the nonprofit.