The party chairman, Robin Hayes, was charged with five counts, including bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. The indictment accuses Hayes, a former congressman, of helping to route $250,000 in bribes to the re-election campaign of Mike Causey, the insurance commissioner.
Causey, who reported his concern to authorities, was not charged in the indictment, which a grand jury returned last month, and did not immediately comment. Hayes, the most prominent of four people who were charged, did not respond to a message.
The charges against Hayes represent only the latest chapter of tumult in North Carolina Republican politics. In February, the state board of elections ordered a new vote in the 9th Congressional District after it concluded that a voter-turnout operation, financed by the Republican candidate’s campaign, had tainted last November’s election.
On Monday, Hayes announced that he would not seek another term as state party chairman. In a statement announcing the decision, the party cited “recent, although temporary, issues with his mobility.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.