Petition: Sheriff Daugherty should be suspended

Lincoln County Attorney Jeff Taylor has asked a judge to remove embattled Sheriff Tim Daugherty from office, the Observer's Joe Depriest reports.

Taylor filed a petition in Lincoln County Superior Court on Monday, asking the court to order a hearing on the matter as soon as possible.

Click here to read the court papers.

Lincoln County commissioners voted unanimously in October to authorize Taylor to begin legal proceedings against Daugherty, who has been indicted on two counts of felony obstruction of justice. He is accused of covering up a fixed drunken-driving investigation.

Daugherty has pleaded not guilty to the charges and said through his attorney that he would not step down. Commissioners have asked him twice to resign. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

- Doug Miller

Report: Official impeded Blackwater probe

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by SouthPark lawyers on behalf of 9-year-old Ali Kinani and other Iraqi shooting victims has renewed allegations that N.C.-based Blackwater contractors used illegal weapons overseas.

Paper Trail, meanwhile, has found a report showing the government shared such concerns as far back as two years ago, but a top official with ties to Blackwater looked the other way.

The Congressional report details allegations prior to the bloody Nisoor Square shootings that killed Kinani (right) and at least 13 other civilians on a street outside Baghdad in September 2007. Blackwater guards face federal charges.

The report alleges that former State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard impeded a Justice Department investigation into whether "a large private security contractor was smuggling weapons into Iraq." It was reported at the time that the contractor was Blackwater.

Click here to read the full report.

Krongard's brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, served on Blackwater's advisory board, and the report also concluded that Krongard had a conflict of interest in the matter.

Critics who said the report was politically motivated offered a rebuttal defending Krongard, who has since resigned.

Questions about unauthorized weapons resurfaced in July in legal filings by former Blackwater employees. The statements, connected to another lawsuit in Virginia, are attributed to John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 because the former guards said they fear retaliation.

The suit, filed in Wake County, buffers arguments that Blackwater guards acted recklessly by referencing the former employees' statements.

They include these allegations:

"I was asked to assist with unloading bags of dog food into the Armory. As I unloaded the bags of dog food, another Blackwater employee opened the bags and pulled out weapons from the dog food. Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq." - John Doe #1

"Mr. Prince made available to his employees in Iraq various weapons not authorized by the United States contracting authorities, such as hand grenades and hand grenade launchers." - John Doe #2

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has said its men did nothing wrong.

- Fred Clasen-Kelly, Doug Miller

Hagan's picks for federal courts

Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) today announced her recommendations for key federal appointments in North Carolina’s three federal districts. In a letter to the President, Hagan made recommendations for two federal district court judgeships, three U.S. Attorney and three U.S. Marshall positions.

Click here to read Hagan's letter.

- Doug Miller