Easleys' twisted tale begins to unravel

Richard Nixon knew it best and said it best: It's the lying that gets you in trouble.

Heads have rolled at N.C. State University, and the rolling might not be over yet. Provost Larry Nielsen, who created the job Mary Easley wanted; Chancellor Jim Oblinger, who (it is now clear) lied about his contacts with political officials in creating the job for Mary Easley; McQueen Campbell, the Easley pal and chairman of the university's Board of Trustees — they're all gone, and they all resigned largely because they lied or misled about the hiring of Mary Easley. She was fired Monday by the university from her $170,000 a year job, which has been mostly eliminated, anyway.

It's been an incredible few weeks since News & Observer reporter Andy Curliss began looking into Mary Easley's job at State and at the travels of the First Couple on the aircraft of friends and the taxpayers. Nielsen tried to explain things away. He admitted creating the job for Easley and not opening the position to other applicants. He denied political influence. Campbell denied any involvement in hiring Easley. Then he remembered that he did corner the chancellor about Mary's interest in a job at State. Nielsen and Campbell resigned their positions. Oblinger could not remember any conversation with Campbell about a job for Mary Easley.

Curliss and the N&O stuck with the story. Today, e-mails proved Oblinger had e-mail discussions with Campbell and others about Mary Easley's job. The e-mails (which are public records) also show Mike Easley pressured NCSU to hire his wife. So Oblinger had to resign. If he had been honest from the start, he might have survived.

And now, Mary Easley has been fired. But it's not over. Easley's attorney has implied that if she were to be terminated, she would sue for breach of contract. Also, grand juries are looking into this whole mess with the Easleys (now known among some commenters on the N&O Web site as the "Sleasleys." I don't know whether criminal charges will result, but the hundreds of comments on the N&O stories show the scandal has touched a chord with readers.

Using your network of contacts to get a job is nothing new. In fact, it's recommended. I wish I were as good at it as Mary Easley. But in the Easleys' case, because Mike Easley was the chief executive of the state and "the boss" of everyone at N.C. State, his contacts might be construed as influence peddling.

Some of the comments (I read through all of them this afternoon) on the N&O stories suggest looking deeper into other possible scandals, such as the creation of an anti-poverty commission in the UNC Law School that conveniently provided a job and a platform for John Edwards' presidential ambitions (that organization was privately funded, but there should be a question about whether creating a job for a political candidate violates campaign finance laws). Another comment noted that who would have thought that appointing Mike Nifong district attorney in Durham would not be Easley's biggest mistake. The comment that stuck with me, though, was the one praising the N&O for its persistence. Curliss and the N&O, this commenter said, were far better "public servants" than any of the elected and appointed officials involved.

I think the N&O has just taken the lead in the contest for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism.