Trump pardons former NCGOP chairman Robin Hayes, others with NC ties
Hayes was sentenced to probation in August for trying to help a billionaire bribe the North Carolina insurance commissioner.
- Trump also pardoned several businessmen who committed white-collar crimes.
In one of his last acts as president, Republican Donald Trump pardoned Robin Hayes, a former N.C. Republican Party chairman and congressman who was sentenced in August to probation for lying to federal investigators.
The charges stemmed from an investigation into a billionaire’s attempted bribery of the state insurance commissioner.
The Hayes pardon was among 143 acts of clemency that Trump made in his final hours in office. Several were for people from North Carolina or whose crimes took place in the Tar Heel State.
Trump issued 73 pardons and commuted the sentences of 70 people, the White House said early Wednesday.
Trump’s term ended at noon.
In 2019, Hayes agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they built their case against Greg Lindberg, the billionaire insurance and investment magnate from Durham, federal officials said last year and in 2019.
“Senator Thom Tillis and several members of the North Carolina Congressional delegation strongly support clemency for Mr. Hayes,” the White House pardon announcement states. Tillis represents North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.
In early 2018, The Associated Press reported that Lindberg was North Carolina’s biggest donor in state politics. The AP examined campaign finance reports from 2017 and found he made more than $3.4 million in donations.
Read all about it: Little-known investor gives millions to NC politics
Hayes was a congressman from 1999 to 2009, representing residents in the 8th Congressional District that stretched from Charlotte to Fayetteville. He previously was a gubernatorial candidate and member of the N.C. House.
After leaving office, Hayes twice served as the state Republican Party chairman. Investigators said it was in that role in 2017 and 2018 when Hayes helped Lindberg and two of Lindberg’s associates attempt to funnel more than $1.5 million to the 2020 re-election campaign of N.C. Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey. They promised him $2 million, according to the case.
In exchange, Lindberg wanted Causey to remove a Department of Insurance employee who was responsible for regulating one of his insurance companies, AP and other news media reported.
Causey, a Republican, contacted the authorities and helped them investigate the matter. He even secretly recorded conversations for the investigators.
Causey was never accused of wrongdoing. Lindberg, Hayes and the two other men were charged.
Related story:N.C. House Rep. David Lewis suddenly resigns, charged with crimes
Hayes pleaded guilty in fall 2019 to lying to federal investigators and agreed to help the prosecutors.
At a trial in March of last year, Lindberg and consultant John Gray were convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery. The third man was acquitted.
In August, a federal judge sentenced Hayes to a year of probation. Lindberg was sentenced to seven years and three months. Gray’s sentence is two-and-a-half-years.
Other NC-related clemencies
In addition to pardoning Hayes, Trump pardoned these people from North Carolina or whose cases were prosecuted here:
- Carl Andrew “Drew” Boggs, a pavement contractor from Union County outside Charlotte. In 2015 he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for committing fraud to win nearly $88 million in federal road construction contracts.
- Patrick Lee Swisher of Charlotte, founder of Swisher Hygiene. Swisher went to prison for tax fraud and false statements, the White House said. He was released in 2004. Republican U.S. House Rep. Dan Bishop supported this pardon, as did NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.
- James Austin Hayes, who also was supported by Hendrick and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. Hayes was convicted of conspiracy to commit insider trading.
- Businessman Benedict Olberding of Mooresville. Olberding was convicted of bank fraud.
- Charlotte-based restauranteur Jeffrey Alan Conway. Conway in 2003 pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify accounting records when he was the chief financial officer of Rent-Way Inc., a publicly traded chain of rental purchase stores. He was released from prison in 2004.
- James E. Johnson Jr. of Virginia, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to illegally baiting and killing migratory birds in Pamlico County in 2007.
Trump also pardoned former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been in prison for seven years in a public corruption case. Trump’s news release said North Carolinians Diamond & Silk, who have been two of Trump’s most-ardent social media influencers, endorsed this pardon.
Diamond & Silk are sisters Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, and they are from Hoke County near Fayetteville.
Who are Diamond and Silk:How two small-town ex-Democrats found fame as ‘warriors’ for Trump
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.
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