A source close to Lt. Governor Mark Robinson’s office confirmed to Carolina Journal Wednesday afternoon that senior members of the lieutenant governor’s government staff are resigning. Among them, Chief of Staff and General Counsel Brian LiVecchi, who has been with Robinson since he took office in 2021. The resignations also include Robinson’s communications director John Waugh, policy director Jonathan Harris, and director of government affairs Nathan Lewis.

Tommy Tucker and Brian LiVecchi during a meeting of the the N.C. Rules Review Commission. File

The resignations come days after senior members of Robinson’s separate campaign staff resigned as well. Over the weekend four key senior staff members quit: Conrad Pogorzelski III, general consultant and senior adviser; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager.

The exodus follows a story that broke late last week alleging that Robinson made a series of inflammatory, lewd, and racially charged posts on porn websites in the 2000s. Earlier on Wednesday, Robinson posted a video of himself speaking into a laptop computer, saying he was urging Republicans to stay focused on policy.

“This is an election about policies, not personalities. Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense,” he said.

The Mark Robinson for Governor campaign announced this week that it has hired the Binnall Law Group to investigate the CNN story. 

“My team and I are looking forward to getting to the bottom of CNN’s claims, and we will bring all our resources to bear in getting to the facts,” said Binnall in the media release from the campaign. “Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, his family, and the voters of North Carolina deserve nothing less.”