North Carolina GOP pushes back on redistricting allegations

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Attorneys for North Carolina Republican lawmakers are pushing back hard in state court over accusations the legislators misled federal judges in an earlier redistricting lawsuit.

Republican legislative leaders filed in court on Monday a response to a motion filed by attorneys for Common Cause, the state Democratic Party and Democratic voters now suing in a separate partisan legislative redistricting case.

At issue are documents the plaintiffs subpoenaed from records of the late GOP mapmaker Thomas Hofeller. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have alleged some of Hofeller’s computer files will show Republican legislators deceived federal judges about whether they could redraw new House and Senate lines for the 2017 elections.

The legislators wrote the plaintiffs have no such evidence and that their lawyers should be investigated for how those documents were obtained.