State Auditor Les Merritt continued to use his public office for political gain this week in releasing his “audit” of First Lady Mary Easley’s European trip.

Information about the trip was publicly available and much reported on by the media for months.

The timing of Merritt’s “after the fact” report, one week before the general election, is questionable at best and politically-driven at worst, said Beth Wood, Democratic candidate for State Auditor.

“In attempting to revive old, outdated and even spurious charges, Merritt is making himself the story,” Wood said. “This is Merritt’s latest attempt to use his public office as a partisan playground.”

Most recently, Merritt entered into a clandestine, $2 million contract with a third party to hack into the state’s computer system, violating the law, wasting taxpayers’ money, and risking the integrity of government and private information.

Merritt even refused to turn over relevant documents when the State Chief Information Officer attempted to conduct a compliance review and called Merritt’s actions into question.

Other examples include:
• Delaying same day voter registration with empty charges of voter fraud.
• Tapping into the state Democratic Party’s website to research his opponent while accusing others of misusing state resources.
• Overstepping his bounds in a matter already under review by the State Ethics Commission.
• Retaliating against the Ethics Committee by releasing an audit report on the agency.

“This track record is nothing short of overwhelming,” Wood said. “Under Merritt, the State Auditor’s Office has become a wing of the Republican Party.”