RALEIGH (AP) ó Federal investigators have subpoenaed the Office of the State Auditor to gather records on former first lady Mary Easley and her work at N.C. State University, according to documents released Tuesday.
The subpoena shows that federal investigators want documents connected to any audits or investigations into Easley’s hiring at N.C. State. It also seeks details of an investigative report into the university’s office of provost. The subpoena addressed to the auditor’s office commands an appearance before a federal grand jury in the middle of June.
It’s not clear what investigative reports the FBI seeks, as there have been no public audit reports on those subjects. Dennis Patterson, a spokesman for state auditor Beth A. Wood, declined to say whether the office was investigating Mary Easley’s work there. He said officials are cooperating.
“They’re welcome to look at anything we have,” Patterson said.
Past auditor Leslie Merritt focused on Mary Easley in a report released last year, but it did not address her work at N.C. State. That audit released in October concluded that two cultural exchange trips that Mary Easley and others took to Europe piled up nearly $46,000 in “unreasonable and excessive expenses.”
The trip left taxpayers footing the bill for items such as caviar and ballet tickets, according to the audit.
But federal investigators appear to be more focused on Mary Easley’s hiring at N.C. State. Both the university’s provost and the chairman of the board of trustees have resigned amid the scrutiny of Easley’s hiring, and she has bucked the advice of campus leaders that she resign from the $170,000-per-year job.
At a press conference last week, Mary Easley’s attorney Marvin Schiller defended her work, saying she has done nothing improper.
Federal subpoenas have previously sought former Gov. Mike Easley’s travel records from the Highway Patrol and the details of Mary Easley’s employment history at N.C. State.
A recent series of stories in the News & Observer of Raleigh showed that McQueen Campbell, the former trustees board chairman, had provided private flights for Mike Easley while he was in office.
The university’s former provost, Larry Nielsen, hired Mary Easley in 2005 to lead a speaker series. Mary Easley got more duties and a larger salary in 2008.