The State Board of Election just starting looking into the campaign finances of state Rep. Thomas Wright (D-Wilmington) and already Wright has taken the fifth. Wonder why?

Maybe it is the state investigator who thinks Wright may have routed as much as $250,000 in campaign funds to himself. The N&O reports:

Kim Strach, the investigator, testified before the state board that a review of Wright’s bank records found that money contributed to his campaign was spent on purchases from places such as Victoria’s Secret, Circuit City, Home Depot and Sears. Strach testified that Wright also spent campaign contributions on airline tickets, gas and hotel rooms.

But Strach also noted that until Oct. 1, state law allowed campaigns to spend money on anything they wanted as long as the expenditures were disclosed. She said it was not clear whether some of the expenditures were campaign-related.

Toss in some signatures on checks of dicey origin and Wright is headed down the path blazed by Kevin Geddings, Michael Decker, and Jim Black. Fraud is fraud. When will members of the General Assembly figure that out? Do we have to investigate everyone?

Answer: Could be.

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