McCrory, Sanford Took Payments from Corrupt Lender

Soon after taking office, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) “accepted six-figure stock payouts from an online mortgage broker accused by regulators of deceiving its customers,” the AP reports.

“The two Republicans served as directors at Tree.com, the Charlotte-based corporate parent of the website LendingTree. As board members, they were entitled to large chunks of restricted company stock if they held their positions long enough. Both resigned after their election victories, which would have rendered their unvested stock worthless had the board not taken special action to provide them early payouts.”

The payments were not fully described in their ethics statements and their timing and total value are only being revealed now.