After hearing from a State Bureau of Investigation agent, the Wake County grand jury ordered the Wake County District Attorney’s office in writing to file an indictment for examination “against any and all” of three people, including Stein himself. The Democratic attorney general, his 2020 campaign manager Eric Stern and current state Department of Justice chief Seth Dirmin — Stein’s former campaign manager — were identified in Monday’s “presentation” document signed by the grand jury. They have not been charged with any crime. Stein, a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2024, criticized in a statement what he called a “nonsense investigation.” The investigation stems from a state Board of Elections complaint filed in the fall of 2020 by Stein’s Republican opponent, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill. He accused Stein’s campaign of running a political ad that violated a 91-year-old libel law. O’Neill’s campaign said Stein’s commercial, which accused the Republican of letting more than a thousand rape kits go untested, was “false and disparaging” because police, not prosecutors, are responsible for testing the kits rape. Wake County District Attorney Lorraine Freeman’s office launched an investigation in 2021. Freeman, also a Democrat, said Monday that her office could present a potential indictment to a grand jury as soon as next month. But a ruling as early as this week by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could derail the prosecutor’s push for a prosecution. Stein’s campaign committee said the ad was true. Freeman “continues to pursue the nonsense of her investigation into a campaign ad that is true from an election long past, using a 91-year-old statute that has never been used against any other candidate,” Stein’s campaign wrote in a statement. Monday. “While the attorney general is disappointed by this continued distraction, he remains focused on his work to test sexual assault kits and bring justice for sexual assault survivors.” Freeman has withdrawn from the case – citing her working relationship with O’Neill and Stein – and has given it to a senior aide in her office. Stein’s campaign committee asked the appeals court last week to issue a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the state law while the committee and other plaintiffs seek to strike it down as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Katherine Eagles last week declined to grant the injunction. Dating back to at least 1931, the law makes it illegal to intentionally spread a false “disparaging report” that could harm a candidate’s chance of being elected. The misdemeanor charge of violating the law carries a sentence of up to 60 days in jail with fines of up to $1,000, but someone with an otherwise clean criminal record would avoid serving the sentence if convicted. Any criminal charges against Stein or his aides could hurt the Democrat’s election prospects.
Hannah Schoenbaum is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative staff. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/H_Schoenbaum.
