Naturally, They Want THIS Judge on the Case

 

I reported last October about several noxious laws the Republicans slipped into the state's budget bill, evidently hoping people wouldn't notice. We noticed. Among those terrible things, Phil Berger and Tim Moore gave themselves the power to pick 10 new "special" Superior Court judges -- no election or voice of the people required, just loyalty to the almighty power of the NCGOP.

That particular chicken has come home to roost. One of those 10 "special" judges became Clayton Somers, Speaker of the House Tim Moore's own former chief of staff.

Meanwhile, there happened a very contentious Republican primary in Rockingham County, where Phil Berger's planned gambling casino would have been located on land which had been conveniently (and just in time!) rezoned to allow for a gambling casino. One Republican county commissioner, Craig Travis, opposed all of the shenanigans, and campaigned against his fellow commissioner, Phil Berger's own son Kevin Berger. Travis almost beat Berger. Just 3 votes separated them when the dust settled.

Travis sued alleging that during the primary, other county commissioners and political organizations defamed him in attack ads stemming from his opposition to allowing a casino in Rockingham. So naturally, the defendants, including Kevin Berger, are petitioning to have the case tried by "special" Judge Clayton Somers, Tim Moore's BFF.

They don't even try to hide their corruption, nor mask it in any way. It's just business as usual. Give yourself the power to appoint the judges who will preside over your cases of corruption. The America of Donald Trump.