Hall: NC PolicyWatch conspired with my opponents

Could Blinky and Scowly be the second-coming of Nixon’s plumbers — his dirty tricks crew?  You make the call:

A Democratic North Carolina legislator accused of sexual misconduct is accusing the group that first reported the allegations of violating rules for nonprofit organizations.

Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democratic Party leaders last week called on state Rep. Duane Hall, a Raleigh attorney, to resign from his District 11 House seat amid allegations that he tried to kiss two women without their consent, and acted inappropriately toward another woman.

The allegations were first detailed in a story published by NC Policy Watch, an organization that is part of the liberal advocacy group NC Justice Center. The Policy Watch story quoted five people, some of whom were anonymous.

Hall has denied the allegations. On Tuesday, he said the Justice Center and Policy Watch must follow their mission statement to work on “issues of concern to low and middle income North Carolinians” and that, by working for a year on the story about him, the group violated federal rules for nonprofits.[…]

Hey, um, aren’t “low and middle income North Carolinians” concerned about legislators trying to kiss them?  (*Just asking.*)

MORE: 

[…] The Justice Center is “absolutely prohibited from intervening in a political campaign for or against any candidate for an elective public office,” Hall said in a statement, quoting IRS tax-filing instructions.

He said Policy Watch “must explain their bloggers’ coordination with other political campaigns to time the release of their story for the end of the primary filing. They discussed their yearlong work with my political opponents before publication.” […]

(*Oooooooooh.  THIS is getting fun!*)

MORE:

[…] Hall’s claim about Policy Watch violating nonprofit rules comes two days after he suggested the group has ulterior motives for the story because Hall dated and then broke up with Megan Glazier, the daughter of the executive director of the Justice Center, Rick Glazier. She works at the Justice Center.

Policy Watch editor Rob Schofield said he knew about the relationship but chose not to disclose it because nothing in the group’s reporting “relates to [Megan Glazier] or her relationship with Hall in any way.”

On Tuesday, Schofield said the organization “stands proudly behind its story, which was produced in faithful compliance with all relevant nonprofit rules and without any agenda – personal or political – and without any coordination whatsoever with any outside group or individual.”[…]

It sounds like — if Hall has his way — we’ll find out soon enough whether or not THAT is true.