NC GOP’s 'secret police' will soon conduct probes 'with no oversight whatsoever': report

A new "widely criticized" North Carolina law set to go into effect this month will allow a state-Republican legislative committee to conduct investigations "with no oversight whatsoever," Truthout reports.

Per Truthout, "sometimes referred to as Gov Ops," the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations' recently passed state budget will allow state GOP lawmakers to lead "investigations into 'possible instances of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, mismanagement, waste, abuse, or illegal conduct' by other state or local agencies or private companies or individuals who receive state funding, which could include contractors, subcontractors, state-run universities and charities in the state."

According to the report, "the bill became law without Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's signature 10 days later. Cooper could not block the bill because Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the legislature, and North Carolina law does not allow the governor to make line-item vetoes."

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The news outlet notes:

Over the course of any investigation conducted by the committee, individuals under investigation would be forbidden from speaking publicly about possible misdeeds or overreaches by investigators, and all communications or requests from the committee's staff would be 'confidential.' Subjects would also be barred from consulting with legal counsel about their rights, and searches of properties (whether in public or private spaces) could occur without the need for a warrant.

Calling the law "deeply unsettling," Truthout reports North Carolina Democratic State Senator Graig Meyer told Tesnim Zekeria of Popular Information, "I don't think I have ever publicly called the GOP leadership 'authoritarian' because that's not a term I take lightly. But their approach to seizing power and cover up their tracks now fits the bill."

Likewise, Northeastern University political science professor Daniel P. Aldrich wrote via X (formerly Twitter), "This consolidation of force and coercion is very worrying."

North Carolina Press Association Executive Director Phil Lucey said the bill "poses a significant threat to the public's right to see public records in the hands of the General Assembly when records are archived."

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Truthout reports, "Republican state lawmakers maintain that the new law is in the name of 'government accountability,' and that the investigatory powers of the committee are needed to ensure oversight of public funds," however, the report notes that Zekeria said the same GOP lawmakers "pushed through several provisions in the budget that restrict access to legislative public records, eliminating a critical tool for accountability — including for Gov Ops itself."

Democratic State Representative Allison Dahle said during debate about the provision, "This secret police force can even come into, for example, a law firm that receives state funding for court-appointed lawyers. This now means that the sanctity of the attorney-client privilege is now defunct."

Truthout's full report is available at this link.