RALEIGH -- Is it an indirect campaign jab, a publicity stunt or a legitimate cry of foul?
Whatever it is, a potential defamation lawsuit against Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's gubernatorial campaign could turn quite interesting, assuming the lawsuit is actually filed and heard.
Raleigh lawyer Gene Boyce recently filed notice that he intends to sue Perdue and her campaign on behalf of a State Insurance Services, a company that won a contract from State Treasurer Richard Moore's office to sell supplemental insurance to state retirees.
Perdue attacked the contract as a sweetheart deal, the last of her negative attack ads launched against Democratic rival Moore before announcing that she'd had a change of heart, giving up that kind of thing.
The television ad ran only a few days, but company officials apparently became incensed that they'd been brought into the mudslinging surrounding the race.
Oh, the terrible things that happen to people when they win state contracts, and then contribute and raise campaign money on behalf of the politicians in the state agencies that awarded the contracts. Life is so unfair.
But Boyce and his clients shouldn't fret. Just think of what might come of this lawsuit.
Moore might be deposed to discuss the statutory authority under which he issued the contract. You see, there doesn't appear to be any, although his predecessor, the late Harlan Boyles, did the same thing.
Moore's agency, though, is small potatoes when it comes to the business of supplemental insurance in state government.
Throughout state government in North Carolina, each agency is issuing contracts so that insurers can solicit current state employees to sell supplemental life and health insurance. State law does authorize and set out procedures for issuing these supplemental insurance contracts involving current state employees (as opposed to retirees.)
With such a contract, insurers win access to employees and the ability to have premiums deducted from state payroll checks. And dozens of companies have been awarded the contracts.
Apparently, it's a pretty lucrative business. A number individuals in the business -- not just the folks who own State Insurance Services -- happen to be pretty regular political donors and fund-raisers. Some of them even hold swanky fund-raising parties for candidates in their mansions.
So, maybe Boyce or Perdue's lawyers can get a copy of the meeting minutes from each state agency committee responsible for making these selections, just to compare and contrast. These minutes must exist. They're required by the law.
Maybe they can also determine when the sealed bid proposals for each agency were opened, and when the public was notified of these openings. That's also required by the law.
Yes, this lawsuit could bring a lot of scrutiny to a business that typically doesn't have much sunshine cast its way.
No doubt, everyone involved will welcome the sunshine -- the politicians, the insurance agents, the lawyers and the state employees.