MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ó Federal investigators on Tuesday subpoenaed several years of Mary Easley’s employment records, adding to scrutiny of the former first lady’s university job and potential perks given to her husband while he was in office.

Subpoenas sent Tuesday to the North Carolina State University ask for all documents related to Easley’s hiring, promotion and salary dating back to 2002. The document requests went to the offices of provost, chancellor and the university’s custodian of records, and authorities asked each representative to appear before a grand jury on Thursday.

Easley received a five-year contract last year that will pay her $850,000 to run a campus speaker series and public safety center.

The university’s provost, Larry Nielsen, and board of trustees chairman, McQueen Campbell, stepped down last week amid questions about how they handled Easley’s hiring. Both have denied wrongdoing.

N.C. State Chancellor James Oblinger and Erskine Bowles, the University of North Carolina system president, have suggested Easley resign.

Federal authorities have also subpoenaed records related to former Gov. Mike Easley’s use of private aircraft before and during his time as governor. That subpoena came shortly after a series of stories in the News & Observer of Raleigh that documented Easley’s travel with Campbell.

Gov. Beverly Perdue wouldn’t say whether the former first lady should resign, but she hoped for a quick resolution.

“I’m watching what the university and President Bowles are doing, and I am very hopeful that they will resolve this quickly ó and I mean quickly,” Perdue told reporters after a bill-signing ceremony.

Mary Easley first started at N.C. State in 2005, when she started leading a speaker series. She got more duties and a larger salary in early 2008. UNC system leaders later ordered a review of the salary and determined that one-third of the money should come from private funds.

The State Board of Elections is also investigating Mike Easley’s use of aircraft, focusing on whether the value of the trips exceeded campaign donation limits. The board also is examining why Easley’s campaign failed to put its use of a sport utility vehicle from an eastern North Carolina dealership on campaign reports.

While the FBI has directed the Highway Patrol to collect the travel records by Wednesday for the grand jury, the patrol said recently it didn’t have records for the Easley family’s travels for all of 2005, the first year of his second term.

The patrol is investigating what happened but Republican leaders at the General Assembly asked Tuesday for an independent investigator to look into the missing records because the patrol may be subject to conflict of interest.

The GOP leaders also noted that Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Reuben Young, who oversees the patrol, used to be Gov. Mike Easley’s chief legal counsel.

“Have they been taken by someone? Have they been destroyed by someone or is it just a matter of sloppy record keeping,” said Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. “We don’t know the answers to those questions.”

Perdue gave a vote of confidence to Young, saying “he is absolutely a fine leader” and a great lawyer.

“We’re doing everything we can do to be not only cooperative but to provide information,” the governor said.

Later Tuesday, Young said in a prepared statement: “I take this matter seriously and I assure you the Highway Patrol investigation will be thorough, fair and impartial This is no place for partisan politics.”