(Full disclosure: I’m working with Moore’s opponent, David Brinkley. The views here are mine and do not represent my clients.)

For House Speaker Tim Moore, politics has been a lucrative business. Since he got elected to the legislature, his financial outlook has improved dramatically. He went from small time lawyer to privileged businessman—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Profiting off power is a time honored tradition in politics.

And Moore seems to just luck into profitable ventures. Earlier this year, we learned that Moore was part of a group that bought an environmentally troubled abandoned chicken plant for $85,000 and sold it three years later for $550,000 after the Department of Environmental Quality waived fines for underground fuel tanks. Some people would call that a sweetheart deal. I doubt he would have gotten it if he hadn’t been in the legislature.

Moore also landed the contract as Cleveland County attorney. It pays $25,000 a year plus $250 an hour. Good work if you can get it. I’m sure there’s never any conflicts between the county and the state—at least not when you’re on the payroll of both.

Now, it turns out that Moore got a contract from a pharmaceutical startup based in the Research Triangle Park. The CEO couldn’t figure out the reason for the contract so she canceled it. Turns out the co-founder and board chair of the company, Neal Hunter,  had given Moore the contract. Coincidentally, Moore had helped Hunter with an unrelated real estate deal that was worth millions a few years earlier. That’s how all this works. You help me make money, I’ll help you. State ethics rules do not require lawyers to name their clients.

But here’s the real rub. At the same time Moore is profiting handsomely from his position as Speaker of the House, he’s working to eliminate the checks and balances that hold him accountable. He’s spent much of his energy trying to strip power from the executive branch, including putting two constitutional amendments on the ballot that would weaken the governor. He’s overseen the most extreme gerrymandering the country to reduce accountability at the ballot box. And the legislature is working to reduce the power of the courts to provide oversight of the General Assembly.

Maybe Moore has done nothing illegal, but he’s certainly benefitting financially from his power as a legislator.  At a time when trust in government is at an all-time low, we need more checks and balances, not less. We need stricter ethics requirements, not more lenient ones. Tim Moore is clearly not going to regulate his own behavior. Maybe we need legislators who will.

Thomas Mills

Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >