Cooper: Investigation of AG Stein is 'unprecedented repression of free speech'
A controversial probe into whether North Carolina’s attorney general violated an untested election law has a new, high-profile critic: the governor.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement Tuesday slamming an investigation into the campaign of Attorney General Josh Stein. The Wake County District Attorney’s office is probing allegations that the campaign broke a 90-year-old election law barring candidates from circulating false and derogatory information about each other.
“The idea that the government can criminally prosecute a person for expressing a legitimate political opinion runs counter to the First Amendment and threatens anyone who wants to criticize a public official,” Cooper said in the statement Tuesday. “This is an unprecedented repression of free speech that should trouble everyone.”
Cooper comments come a day after a grand jury returned a presentment to Wake County prosecutors, a move that allows prosecutors to pursue an indictment against Stein. The North Carolina State Board of Elections says such a charge–a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 60 days in jail—would be the first of its kind under the election law.
The case centers on a television ad in which a Stein supporter claimed that his opponent in the 2020 election, Jim O’Neill, “left 1,500 rape kits sitting on a shelf, leaving rapists on the streets.”
O’Neill, the Forsyth County District Attorney, alleged that the ad is defamatory because local law enforcement agencies such as city police departments and county sheriffs departments typically maintain custodial control of rape kits.
O’Neill filed a complaint with the state elections board alleging that Stein’s campaign circulated false and derogatory information about him. The elections board investigated, saying that it didn’t find enough to recommend prosecution.
Stein’s campaign has said the ad is fair because O’Neill, as a district attorney, has some influence over whether rape kits are tested and over whether sexual assault cases are prosecuted
O’Neill didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case has drawn considerable intrigue in part because Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, like Stein, is a Democrat. Stein is expected to run for governor in 2024. And the DA office’s pursuit of the case has been scrutinized because of its novelty.
Freeman, who has recused herself from the case, on Monday accused Stein allies of applying political pressure in hopes of influencing decisions about the case. She didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Despite the recusal, Stein’s campaign has called out Freeman, saying she’s pursuing a “nonsense investigation.” .
Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican, on Tuesday commended the Wake County District Attorney’s office for leaving the case in the hands of a grand jury. He said an investigation was likely warranted, in part because the state elections board has a partisan bent. Currently, the board has three Democrats and two Republicans.
A spokesman for the state elections board didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Apparently the ad itself sort of rises to a level that folks have not seen before,” Berger told reporters. “We've seen some really rough political ads, but apparently this one, in terms of matching up with facts, did not match up.”
Berger said he believes there should be legal consequences for politicians who lie about each other. “If somebody runs a political ad that they know is false and then there ought to be some accountability for that,” Berger said.
Stein’s campaign has alleged that its ad was no less truthful than comments O’Neill made about Stein and his role in clearing rape kits. O’Neill told the Smoky Mountain News for a February 2020 that he’d “had enough of the thought of 15,000 rape kits sitting up on the shelves at the lab that he’s responsible for and he’s done absolutely nothing about.”
Stein posted a message on social media Tuesday defending the ad: “The ad was true—and I will never apologize for my work to fight for sexual assault victims. The DA’s investigation is unfounded, but it will not distract me from my work to protect people.”
