North Carolina's attorney general wants new laws for state agents and prosecutors to urge cooperate in public corruption investigations.
Attorney General Roy Cooper says state prosecutors should be able to convene grand juries to get to the heart of corruption. He's tried before to secure the power..but says the legislature has so far refused to act. Wake County D-A Colon Willoughby says they can do it for drug offenses..but that needs to expand.
"Financial crimes which have taken on a whole new meaning in the last five years really call out for this type of assistance..this ability to gather documents, to compel witnesses at a low level to give us the truth."
Pair that with Cooper's desire to make lying to S-B-I agents in corruption probes a felony.
"Some cases have foundered because of that. Some cases had to be turned over to the feds because of the lack of these tools."
Copper says he'll take his proposal to legislators hoping they see it as a way to weed out the dishonest ones.