Satirists Hit NC House Speaker Tim Moore for Public Corruption

A satirical new website, "Tim For Him," launched yesterday, highlighting the numerous displays of public corruption that NC House Speaker Tim Moore is currently mired in. An impersonator wearing a giant cartoon head (above) held a press conference outside the legislature in Raleigh yesterday morning and handed out three-dollar bills featuring a caricature of Moore.

The group is highlighting a history of apparent corruption:

• Bogus chicken plant deal: Bought an abandoned chicken processing plant for $85,000 in 2013 and sold it in 2016 for $550,000 (a $465,000 profit) after using his influence to prevent DEQ from taking pollution enforcement action against the site.
• Blatant nepotism: Secured a $90,000 state job for his girlfriend, for which no other applicants were considered -- a clear violation of state hiring laws. Also hired his buddy, ex-lawmaker Nelson Dollar, for a six-figure job on Moore’s staff after Dollar was defeated in 2018.
• Kickbacks on Durham development deal: Took $40,000 in legal fees and nearly $70,000 in campaign donations from a Durham developer in exchange for passing special legislation benefiting the developer. Now under SBI investigation for the corrupt deal.
• Wining and dining with campaign funds: Failed to disclose over $60,000 in fine dining and travel charges paid for with his campaign credit card, despite sponsoring the law requiring itemization of such spending. Also failed to disclose that he was paying $23,000 in “rent” to his own company for a condo in Raleigh.
• Pay-for-play at teachers’ expense: Received campaign contributions from construction industry players who were pushing legislation to divert state funding for personnel to school construction instead. Also voted to allow lenders to charge higher interest rates and fees after the industry hired lobbyists and steered campaign contributions to key lawmakers.
• Making it harder to investigate corrupt politicians: Speaker Tim seems like he has a lot to hide. Is it any wonder why he has repeatedly pushed misguided laws that make it harder for the state ethics board to go after corrupt politicians, and keep ethics investigations secret?