Moffitt’s profits and plagiarism

by | Sep 6, 2014 | Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 6 comments

You could see this one coming. When Republican state Rep. Tim Moffitt formed a company to sell web sites to his Republican colleagues, trouble was sure to follow. Now it has.

Moffitt’s company plagiarized copy on websites they sold to his fellow House members. They used talking points from interest groups and other publications without attribution. The information was used to push conservative positions on the cookie-cutter websites that his company produced. 

Moffitt got out of the way and let his general manager, Brent Lanning, take the fall. Lanning claimed Moffitt is not involved with day-to-day operations and not at fault. Passing the buck and denying responsibility is a time-honored tradition among sleazy politicians.

Who really thought that it was good idea for a legislator to set up a business to sell services to other legislators? Think about it. Moffitt’s fellow Republicans are paying him out of their campaign coffers for campaign services.

I’m sure there’s nothing illegal about it. It’s just the epitome of what people think is wrong with politics–cronyism, profiting from elected office, milking campaign funds and now claiming credit for other people’s ideas. At the very least, there’s a potential for conflict of interest by shuffling campaign funds from one candidate to another through business transactions. 

Tim Moffitt is a guy who is too ambitious for his own good and certainly too ambitious for the General Assembly. He should stick to building his web sites. He killed off the competition by marketing to colleagues who had a vested interested in keeping him happy and keeping him solvent. I wonder how many of the legislators that serve on committees he chairs or co-chairs are also his clients? Or how many legislators who have business before those committees are also his clients? And I wonder if his clients’ bills do better than bills introduced by non-clients? Inquiring minds want to know. 

6 Comments

  1. Don Yelton

    Just beware u may soon find put the cap that Nesbitt pulled. How did the Democrats stay in power so long with district manuvering, same day registration and voting plus early voting not to mention putting literature for Democrats in school mail and local board doing nothing in Buncombe county.

  2. Mick

    The plagiarism is one thing, and seemingly a conservative forte, using Moffit, Rand Paul and Greg Brannon are examples. Funny that all three put the blame on staff.

    But the real suspect and concerning thing is what you say n you last paragraph (“I wonder how many of the legislators that serve on committees he chairs or co-chairs are also his clients? Or how many legislators who have business before those committees are also his clients? And I wonder if his clients’ bills do better than bills introduced by non-clients?”). The reality/potential for COI ethics violations is huge.

  3. Frank McGuirt

    I worked with Moffitt, served in the House with him. I’m surprised at nothing he pulls off.

  4. Campaign Reports Geek

    Look at his campaign reports. Not every member that has a site pays him. Some are given the work apparently. Since this is a corporate interest, I would question whether that is legal.

  5. Someone from Main Street NC

    I’m telling you, NCGOP tactics rival old Boss Daley’s machine politics back in Chicago back in the day… We need a good federal prosecutor in NC to clean up this corruption.

    And so much for the narrative that NCGOP was going to “reform” how it was all done. They’ve matched the Democrats and then added more ingenious corrupt practices to the pool.

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