Indicted Charlotte politician's news conference was not great (05-23-2025--Hour1)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendarshow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. So I have just reset the clock to one of days without a Charlotte City Council scandal. Okay, we are now at one. So far, so good. Look, a journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step, you know, So just recognize the progress that we are making on this day. But we also have to acknowledge from whence we came and actually the I guess, the environment in which we are on this journey. There are swirling scandals now in Charlotte, and this is a pretty unique thing for Charlotte. Well it's not even actually well okay, it didn't used to happen this frequently. Okay, go back to Pat Cannon. When was that? That would have been sometime about ten fifteen years ago. Probably, well, yeah, I guess, yeah, I guess about ten years ago. Where I'll have to look it up because now it's going to drive me crazy. I think it is actually fifteen, good lord, the mayor of the City of Charlotte, Pat Cannon, was being investigated while he was a city councilman and running for mayor for taking bribes, and after he won election, he was then indicted and he was removed. He resigned out of office, I think, and then they put Dan Claudefelter in right, Dan Claudefelter, state lawmaker, Democrat, and he was supposed to just be a placeholder, and then he was like, no, actually, I think I'll run again. And that caused outrage among Democrats who they all wanted a shot at the mayorship. And that's when Jennifer Roberts won, and that's when we got the HB two bill in Raleigh because of her promises to you know, make the bathrooms and such open to the transgender folks. And so yeah, so that's how that's how North Carolina ended up with the HB two. It was because Pat Cannon was corrupt. You're welcome, North Carolina. Then it was let's see. Yes, we had Lawana Mayfield. She was I think she was a county missioner at the time, or maybe she was a city council member. I forget. She is currently a city council member. And she made the comments about nine to eleven. It was a conspiracy and everything, and that got a little bit of you know, public attention and such. What else, Oh there was Oh, we had Ellis Scarborough that was more recently, just within the last four years or so, county commissioner who was bedridden with dementia and her daughter was apparently voting for her completely illegally. Everybody seemed to be okay, wanted to keep it on the down low because she was getting healthcare health benefits through her county commission post, and so they just kind of ran out the clock and she passed away. That's another scandal. But that was over at the county commission So I don't want to blame the city for that. That's the county, even though they're all in the same building. But whatever. And then we had the payoff of our police chief. Still don't know how much that was for city council. Should be releasing that number, should be telling us what the settlement was for in order to settle a lawsuit that, oh, by the way, was never filed, so that's still up in the air. And meanwhile, apparently there was an investigation dating back I guess months, according to city council woman Tijuana Brown, and she was approached by somebody we don't know. I went back and watched the entire press conference. I pulled a bunch of audio from it. This was not good. Okay, this was not a great. Look. You're better off issuing a statement and then just not commenting on anything. Put out a single statement or a video of what you want to say, and then shut up about it, because otherwise you end up with what we saw yesterday in this press conference. Not good. Not good. As I mentioned yesterday, I hadn't had a chance to watch the entire press conference. We listened to one portion of it in the last hour of the show yesterday, But the entire press conference is it just makes it worse, worse than the three minute clip that I played yesterday. The standard that she set out was that an innocent person would be the only one to come forward and answer questions of the media. Would an innocent person come here and put out a statement and do a Q and A with you guys. An innocent person answers questions. Her standard that she articulated at the news conference and then proceeded to not answer questions. Not good. Not good. So let's start with her opening statement, which is where she should have just stopped. She should have just read this thing and then walked off stage left. Okay, good morning today. I sit before you as a public servant, a mother, a woman of faith, not broken, not silence, but resolved. The allegations made against me in the indictment are serious. I take them very seriously. But I will not be tried in the media. I will have my day in court where the truth belongs. But let me be clear, it's an effort to distract from the work I've done, the lives I've touched, and the community I represent. To my District three family, I see you, I serve you, I love you, and I will continue to fight for you. My commitment to justice, equity, and second chances remained unshaken. I trust the legal process, and I remain focused on what matters the most, the people. Now. When I found out that there may have been some scrutiny in the application. I paid it back. I have one loan twenty thousand dollars Common eight thirty three, twenty thousand Common eight thirty three. When the application was processed, I paid it back. No one had to tell me to pay it back. When I found out that there may have been some stipulations and how the application was processed, I paid it back. Now, on the other hand, that's He'll Billy Barbecue that has one point five million dollars that never went into the court room. They were able to pay it back civilly through a civil matter. Okay, So there's some PPP loans out there that just came up that never touched the courtroom. So if it's about justice and I paid it back, why are we here? Why are we here? You called us here. I paid it back on my own. No one had to tell me to do that. I paid it back. There was a full one twenty four. I don't have one twenty four. I paid twenty thousand dollars back. You're reading an indictment. I just made my statement. Okay. So a couple of things here, she called them serious allegations. Do you know what she did not do? She did not deny them she said, these are serious allegations, and then usually you would follow that up with but they are not true. These are false. I am not guilty. I am innocent of this thing. She never says that. She just keeps saying I paid it back. She said when I found out there may have been some scrutiny in the application. I've been trying to figure out what she meant by that, and I don't know scrutiny in the application. There's scrutiny of an application, maybe there's scrutiny of the payout. She doesn't say who's doing this scrutinizing? Right, was it media because apparently WBTVS David Hodges and Nick Oxener were sniffing around this story weeks ago. So is that the scrutiny because wbtv's report says that she has been dodging them on these questions. So did she turn around and offer to pay it back at that point or was it when the federales came in and they were like, hey, we found some problems here with your applications. We'd like to interview you about this. And then she was like, I'll just pay it back. And now she wants everybody to take her repayment as proof of innocence. She never acknowledges a mistake except that a third party filled out all of these applications. There were like fifteen of them, but she never names who the third party was. Why, And the lawyer keeps saying, we're not going to try this here we have you know, we'll do this in court and everything else. She also calls this as an effort to distract from the work that she's doing. So she's accusing the US Attorney's Office of engaging in political law. Fair, that's what she's without saying those words. That's what she's saying. Oh, also, they're probably racists. That's that's what came out of this news conference yesterday. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins Offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. City council Woman Tijuana Brown holds a news conference yesterday where she said that she found when she found out there may have been some scrutiny in the application the fraudulent applications that were filed. She paid back twenty thousand, eight hundred thirty three dollars or she likes to say twenty thousand Comma eight thirty three. When the application was processed, she said there were stipulations in how it was processed. I paid it back. Again, I've heard this. I've listened to this clip three or four times. I still don't know what stipulations and how it was processed. I don't know what that means because I know what the individual words mean, but when you put them in that order, I don't understand what you're trying to communicate. So you've got several months ago scrutiny arrived at these loans we don't know from whom, and then she went and paid it back. That does not prove innocence. It could actually indicate guilt. The indictment says that you used those funds on a birthday party? Is that the case I paid twenty thousand dollars back? Did you originally use the funds that are provided for you for that birthday party? I paid it back. The funds that I got was twenty thousand, eight hundred and thirty three, and I paid it. Back in council number round. It sounds like her, are you planning to stay on council? Why would I resign? I haven't been convicted of anything. I was elected for the people by the people. The people would have to remove me out of the seat. Well, not necessarily. There is another way that that could shake out. You know, you can actually get in well, you got indicted, you could get a you could get found guilty, you can be thrown in jail, and then you lose your seat something like that. People can remove you from the office. That's not the only way. But note that when asked by it sounded like Joe Bruno from WSOCTV, but I couldn't tell. When asked did she spend the money on the birthday party, she said I paid it back, not an answer. In fact, it sounds like she's saying, yes I did. Because there's a there's an axiom, a principle, a truism when it comes to accounting of any kind, really, which is that all funds are fungible. Okay, when when you give me one hundred dollars and someone else gives me one hundred dollars, and I put the two hundred dollars total into my bank account, it's fungible, it can go anywhere. It's all mixed in together, Okay. And that's where this money went. It went into an account that she apparently then used to pay for the birthday party, according to the prosecutors. Now, again this went to a federal grand jury. There was no defense presented in the proceeding because a grand jury doesn't hear from the defense. They're just saying, yeah, you got enough to charge her with and then that sets in motion the court proceedings. So, yes, they're going to make their case in court. They're going to try to argue something, but they won't divulge their strategy. I'm not asking them to. Of course they shouldn't. I mean, the lawyer seems very competent. I don't know the lawyer's name, but he seems very competent. He's like, we're not going to get into that. We're not going to get into that. We're not going to you know, show the opposition or strategy and make this case whatever. But she does not answer whether the funds were used for her birthday party celebration, which included the horse and carriage, the rental of a venue, uns catering, and a throne upon which she sat and according to WBTV, which took a bunch of video off of her Facebook Instagram accounts, it was quite a party, man. People were dressed up, there was dancing, they had a DJ, I think, and I mean it was a quite de soiree. Okay, and I look, it was her fiftieth birthday party. I don't begrudge anybody for celebrating and going all out and spending a bunch of money on a birthday party. That's totally fine if it's your money obtained nonfraudulently from taxpayers, you know, like that's kind of my line on that stuff. She does not answer that question. The Fed's also alleged that your daughters were involved with this. Did you fill out any applications on their behalf? Not gonna speak on behalf of anybody that's not here. Okay, you are here, Council Brown, you are here. They are not, but you are. And the question was did you fill out those forms on their behalf so you would be speaking for you? See, that's the question was you did you do that? You're not speaking on their behalf, you're speaking on your behalf. Did you fill out those forms? This is only like three minutes into this press conference, folks, and this thing went on for almost half an hour. It's like twenty four minutes. That's why I said this was not good. I if I had to bet, I would bet her lawyer told her don't do this. Just a guess, all right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare, cover and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news, slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot ground, dot news, slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Want to welcome to the show a man who served on the Charlotte City Council or as mayor for about twenty years or so, and also then went on to the Governor's mansion and also here at WBT for many many years. Pat McCrory, how are you. Oh, I'm doing well, people, I'm at Lake Jimmy. All right, Okay, Yeah, let's not rub that in every time. Okay, as soon as it sends, I'm going in the water. All unnecessary. Okay, So first off, I have to ask have you ever you turned fifty at some point? Have you ever rented a horse and carriage or a throne for your birthday party? And bonus points if you maybe use taxpayer funds to do that? If I had, I wouldn't tell you about it. Fair No, that's fair enough. But okay, so seriously, we got this. We have the indictment now of a sitting Charlotte City councilwoman Tijuana Brown District three Rep. We also had this scandal about the payoff to the police chief in this settlement. So just overall, like this must this must make you a little angry or sad or maybe both having been involved in local city governance for as long as you were. I think that's correct. It makes me both angry and sad because one of the things I used to brag about being a city councilman as mayor, and my predecessors and Richard Van Rud, Harvey Gant, Sue Meyeric and others, we always prided ourselves on ethics, and that was what Charlotte was known for, is very strong ethics among the selected officials. And we put a lot of pressure on each other because of past tradition of knowing that if you do business with a City of Charlotte politician, it's going to be above board and it's going to be the right thing. And I think that was one of the great strengths of our city. Now we had a big den on that exit on that reputation when Pat Cannon was arrested when I was governor at in fact, and that was extremely sad for me and I was angry about it, but this is also something which has got to be unacceptable, and you know, i'd call on the mayor and city council members immediately asked for this council member's or resignation. And I think the head of the Democratic Party, both the Mecklenberg head of the Democratic Party and the state head of the Democratic Party ought to immediately ask for her to resign, and I think that will send a strong signal. She has said she's not resigning, but that doesn't mean that others should not have input into this process to show the public that this type of conduct is unacceptable, especially with her track record of having committed fraud in the past and been convicted of that in the past. Yeah. So you mentioned dealing with business folks, So like, what does this do to the brand of Charlotte when it comes to business retention, business recruitment, because I would imagine like when you were meeting with these business folks that were trying to locate in Charlotte, like this stuff would never you would never have to come up and explain anything like this as oh no, don't worry, everything's fine now, bad apple, we got rid of them. Whatever. How do you go about talking to business leaders when trying to recruit or retain if you have this kind of thing that's just out there. Well, in fact, when I was a mayor, I actually used to brag to not only brag about it, but I'd let new business leaders know that this is a clean city, because they might have been coming from a dirty city and they might have been wondering how do you do business here? And I remember talking to several major new business leaders that we recruited, including people in the sports and entertainment business, and I let them know very strongly, don't even attempt to bribe or try to improperly influence an elected official here in Charlotte. That's not the way they we do business. And two one hundred percent of them would say, I appreciate you telling me that, because they might have been coming from environments where that was not the norm. Yeah, I am also, well, that requires everybody to voluntarily, right, all of these elected officials to voluntarily adhere to that norm, right, And once the sort of permission structure is allowed, then you're going I would imagine you would see more people ignoring that norm. That's why I think it's important for the Mayor and Council to go on record saying she old to resign. I think it's important for the chairman of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party in the North Carolina Democratic Party to do the same thing. I think it's important for the Chamber of Commerce to demand a resignation, to send a signal to everyone that this is not something that we put up with in Charlotte, and this is not the way we do business, and that we do believe in strong character. So I think anyone who can have a voice should have a voice on this matter and not just sit on the sidelines. And because it's a very very serious charge, and I don't think while this charge is hanging over and based upon her previous track record, that she could do legitimate job representing that district or the fact of the matter is representing the whole city of Charlotte, because her votes count just as much as in that large district or or when the mayor has to break a tie, she has one vote among eleven and it's equal votes. And so far explanation has not been While driving up here, I was listening to your show, and her explanation is very, very weak, and I think it's got to be stronger than that in order for her a hold office. Let me ask you about the closed session settlement stuff. Is it your understanding from your time on council that if you did some sort of a legal settlement, that that had to be disclosed after the fact. Yes, just straight up yes, you disclose the amount of money. Only that we say what the vote was, We go out in a public session and actually vote on it. That's the way we used to do it. But again, I don't know the details other than what I've read in this. I frankly think tark is a friend of mine. I thought his text were extremely inappropriate. Reminded me of some of my North Carolina legislators when I was governor, trying to threaten people with their political power, and I just thought that that was not the Charlotte way either. But at the same time, it's not worthy of a lawsuit or paying Chief Jennings, who I also respect a great deal and I like him, and I thought he's done a good job considering the pressure put on him and the police by a very liberal city council, and not I think taking the strong action we need to take against criminal activity in Charlotte. But I've seen nothing but a good work from Chief Jennings and so. But that's all I know about. It, right, Yeah, And that's why I asked just sort of about the process. And the last question I had for you, and this came from a listener yesterday. They wanted to know about the you know, if you show up at the council meeting as a as a council member and then you leave, every other vote on the agenda you get counted as a yes vote. And I remember that rule back when I was covering you guys on council, and I had seen that happen on occasion. Do you know the rationale for that? Like, what's the what's the reasoning for why if you show up and then leave for like unexcused absence, why your votes get counted as a YA vote for the rest of the meeting? I can't remember, Okay, now that's fine. It's you know, you got to remember it's been since two thousand and nine. Yeah, I came, you know, I joined the city council in nineteen eighty nine and what mayor in ninety five and left in two thousand and nine. So I if i'd told you it'd be a guest. Now it's been a long time. Yeah, I couldn't remember either. I think the only explanation that I could ever think was that it was at the for like quarum purposes you needed to have and the work needed to keep moving. I don't remember people voting present either, right, the only time we would maybe, you know, if someone had a conflict of interest, they just walk away and not participate in the conversation whatsoever, if there was any type of conflict of interest in a vote. But gosh, it's it's been a long time, and you know, I don't even know if this is a personnel matter. No, I agree, I don't think. I don't know if this classifies as a personnel matter a dispute between elected official and the chief of police. And again I thought that I thought the tweets were in or whatever, the messages were inappropriate the text. I always had a rule, let the chief be chief. In fact, I had a button on it one time I brought because one time, I during one of my many terms, I had a few city council members who wanted to be the police chief. And you know, just like you know what, the whole time I was mayor, I wouldn't allow resolutions on anything not reliant to our job at hand. Like I occasionally, I'd have council members who want to do a resolution on peace negotiations in the Middle East or abortion periferation, and I'd go go run for Congress. This is city council, and I literally wouldn't let it happen. Yeah, and that's the way we stayed out of this junk is to stay within your lane. So here, I got a message from Kenny Smith, former councilman. Right. He says the rule is to deter people from sitting out votes. Huh huh. I don't know if it's a part of our parliamentary procedure city rules, I can't recall. Yeah, Kenny, Kenny's a lot smarter than I am. Kenny came in after me, so, but I have a lot of respect for him. One way to avoid a vote, though, is to just pass out at the diis. I've listened. I've been threatened at the dias. I've been attacked at the dice. I had one council member threat to beat me up. Came behind me and said let's step outside. But you know, I never used my gavel at the dayas in my fourteen years as mayor, because I figured if I ever had to use my gavel, I'd lost control. Huh. That was my theory. Anytime you bang the gavel, you've already lost control and you've lost your You've lost your control by your position. And so that was one of my rules is don't use the gavel, you know, like bang the gavel in session. I just start the meeting and I expect people to shut up. All right. That goes for the old days. Yeah, I got to say those are times long gone apparently now for the City of Charlotte. Pat, enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day weekend at the Lake at. Lake Jimmy, Yes, we know. This is where I live in a We pretend it's a gated community, but it's not, but we pretend it is. That's how elite we are there. You go, all right, Pat McCrary, thanks so much for your time. So I appreciate you. Take care of all right, good talking to you. Thanks all right. So spring is here a time of renewal and celebrations. You got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and the special days for mom and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to last a lifetime. But let me ask you, are all of those treasured moments from days gone by? Are they hidden away on old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos slides? Are they preserved? Because over time, these precious memories can fade and deteriorate, losing the magic of yesterday. At Creative Video, they help you protect what matters most. Their expert team digitizes your cherished family moments and transfers them onto a USB drive, freezing them in time so they can be enjoyed for generations to come. I urge you do not wait until it's too late this spring, celebrate your past. Visit Creative Video today and let them preserve your legacy with the love and care that it deserves. Creative Video Preserving Family Memories since nineteen ninety seven, Located in mint Hill, just off four eighty five. Mail orders are accepted to get all the details that create a video. Dot Com just saw a tweet from breaking Brett Jensen here at WBT news. He's been down at the federal courthouse and Charlotte City Councilwoman Tijuana Brown and her two daughters were each given a twenty five thousand dollars unsecured bond, and each will have to surrender their passport. All three plead not guilty, and all three requested a trial by jury. They refused comments. So now they're on the stakeout outside of the courthouse. We'll see if anybody speaks to them there. We'll try to get brett on in the next hour. Let me go over to or back to the back to the press conference that Tijuana Brown Councilwoman District three held, where I would have advised her not to have done this, but there was one interaction that indicated to me that maybe like she demanded to do this, and the lawyer can't force their client not to do something like this. They could advise against it. But anyway, she would not answer whether or not she filled out the applications on her daughter's behalf, and she would not answer whether she used the funds for her extravagant birthday party either. What do you say to the residents of District three who are seeing this in the news. They're well aware of your history. How can they have confidence in your ability to continue to serve and your desire to continue to serve in the future? The whole platform is based off second chances. It's based off transparency and truth. I've did several interviews with you. I always come forward. I'm always accountab, but there's nothing to hide. My residents know who I am. They know my history. They know who I am, they know my history. My history is not a secret. I live my life on my history. Yeah, but not this day. Never woman that I mean at the door to come home with just a bag in the hand, and they live in my house. The fans sent them there to They to you that I house their women. They live with me. They're in one of my homes right now. This is the work that I do. It's who I am. That's not relevant. That's not relevant. Your contracts that you have with the federal government. Actually they're not exonerating in my mind. It's actually it kind of makes me suspicious now of these arrangements that you've got where you're running these types of I don't know what they're called, but it's like a re entry program house of some kind where after somebody is incarcerated, they get out and I guess they contract to stay with these like halfway houses or something. And apparently she does some of this work, and I assume she gets compensated by the federal government for doing that. Maybe not, maybe it's through nonprofit fundraising and the like, but that's not exonerating. Also, the voters knew that you had gone down for fraud and served four years in federal prison for fraud when you were nineteen years old and you are now. You were close to fifty when you were running for city council, so yes, they were aware of that. You made that a focal point of your story in your campaign. Voters were not aware of this. See that's the difference. They were not aware of these PPP loans and whether or not you threw a massive birthday party using those taxpayer dollars, that's different. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.