The News & Observer reports on the shower of indictments coming down on the former campaign staff of North Carolina Democrat Governor Perdue.  Three aides to Perdue’s 2008 campaign were indicted on felony charges of obstruction of justice and filing false campaign statements.  One wonders if this will impact her decision whether to run for re-election or not.

A Wake County grand jury today handed down indictments alleging that a top aide to Gov. Bev Perdue’s 2008 campaign schemed to pay a staffer $32,000 for work that was kept off the books in violation of state election laws.

The new charges, all felonies, are part of a long-running investigation into Perdue campaign activities that have focused on expenditures that would have triggered election law violations for exceeding the limit on personal donations if they had been reported. Earlier this year a retired state magistrate was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to hide an illegal campaign flight.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby has said that Perdue, a former lieutenant governor and state lawmaker, is not a target of the probe, but today’s indictment reached into the campaign’s inner circle. 

Politico has the Republican response:

State GOP Chairman Robin Hayes held up the indictments as proof that Perdue failed to follow through on the “fresh start” she promised voters in 2008.

“The nature of the indictments against Gov. Perdue’s campaign reminds voters of disgraced Gov. Mike Easley, an era they thought they had moved past,” said Hayes. “We’ve learned some troubling things about Perdue’s views on elections: Her campaign allegedly broke the law with campaign finance filings, she has suggested ‘suspending congressional elections’, and she doesn’t support Voter ID measures that would protect the integrity of our voting process.”