The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has temporarily blocked an investigation into North Carolina’s attorney general over a negative campaign ad, saying the state law he’s accused of violating is likely unconstitutional.
“Candidates running for office in North Carolina might well be chilled in their campaign speech by the sudden reanimation of a criminal libel law that has been dormant for nearly a century,” the court wrote.
The debate turns on a 1931 law in North Carolina that criminalized the publication of a “derogatory” campaign ad, “knowing such report to be false or in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.”
A grand jury is investigating whether Democrat Josh Stein lied during his successful 2020 reelection campaign for attorney general in an ad blaming his Republican rival for a backlog of untested rape kits, according to court records.
Stein’s opponent, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, protested that police are responsible for processing rape kits — not prosecutors. He complained to the State Board of Elections, which found there was too much “ambiguity” to recommend charges. But the office of Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman announced plans to propose an indictment to a grand jury this summer, according to the court filings, prompting Stein’s campaign to file a federal lawsuit to stop her.
Freeman, a Democrat, recused herself from the investigation but has defended it, telling one reporter that “the system needs to apply to...
"I will note that in 2024, troops were -- that was Joe Biden by the way, Joe Biden -- were deployed to polling locations in 15 states," Hegseth said April 29, 2026 before the House of Representati...