CNU leader seeks funds for Hamilton

NEWPORT NEWS -- Christopher Newport University President Paul Trible sent out fundraising notes for Del. Phil A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, on letters with the school's official letterhead at the top.

Jay Joseph, Christopher Newport's rector, said the letters went out to about 50 people over the past couple of months and contained the university's name and address across the top. But Joseph said the letters were paid for personally by Trible and the bottom of the notes said so in a disclaimer.

"The mailing wasn't paid for with state dollars," Joseph said Wednesday.

Hamilton's re-election campaign has been dogged by questions about his ties to Old Dominion University. Hamilton resigned a $40,000-a-year job at ODU in August because e-mails showed he was pursuing the position while carrying a budget amendment funding the center that would eventually hire him. Hamilton is a frequent champion of CNU, which has been on the receiving end of a flood of state funding for major construction projects in recent years.

The disclaimer at the bottom of the letter probably means that Trible didn't violate state elections law, said State Board of Elections Secretary Nancy Rodrigues. But the Virginia Department of Human Resources Management does contain punishments for state employees conducting personal business on state-funded time and state workers using state equipment for personal matters.

Trible served in the House of Representatives and then the U.S. Senate in the 1980s. Joseph said Trible has steered clear of major partisan debates but still gives financially to Peninsula lawmakers who back Christopher Newport, including Hamilton, Del. G. Glenn Oder, R-Newport News, and state Sen. John C. Miller, D-Newport News.

But Joseph said Trible would not send out similar solicitations in the future.

"Next time, Paul will use his personal stationery," he said.