In the government-corruption case I’ve been watching mostly closely in recent months, federal prosecutors have moved one step closer to indicting former North Carolina governor Mike Easley, a Democrat whose two terms ended in early 2009. Yesterday the Feds frog-marched Easley’s former legal counsel and fixer, Ruffin Poole, into court for his first appearance before a federal judge on 51 counts of extortion, bribery, racketeering, and money-laundering.

Carolina Journal has extensive print and video coverage, as well as an archive of stories about North Carolina’s biggest public-corruption case. All the story lacks is a Blago-like flair for expletives by any of the crooks involved (as far as we know).