news-record.com

North Carolinians knew their governor from 2001 to 2009 as Mike Easley, former crime-fighting prosecutor and crusading attorney general.

Few could have suspected the governor had a secret identity: Nick Danger, who traveled on secret flights and communicated through secret e-mails for reasons that, well, are still secret.

Nick Danger’s, or Mike Easley’s, secrets have been slowly unraveling during the 13 months since he left office. The latest, exposed in recent depositions by public information officers who worked for his administration: The governor used a private e-mail account to conduct some affairs of state. The name he used was Nick Danger spelled backwards, requiring a secret decoder mirror to read.

This clever dodge allowed Easley to transmit orders or relay information without complying with open records laws, which cover government e-mail accounts. No one outside his inner circle — not foreign spies, or snooping journalists, or the people of North Carolina, would ever be the wiser.

Just to be sure, some former staffers have said, instructions went out to delete e-mails to and from the governor’s office daily.

Easley seemed so aloof during his two terms in office. His public appearances were limited, his official calendars listed few events, and many big issues drew little of his attention.

All the while, he was busy under cover as Nick Danger, whose secret identity has just now been exposed.

As the U.S. attorney’s investigation into Easley’s conduct continues, and as the federal case against former top aide Ruffin Poole proceeds, more information may come to light about the shadowy career of an enigmatic politician.

But his e-mail records appear to be gone forever. It’s a shame, because they might have provided the material for a mystery: “Nick Danger, Secret Governor.”