The more the onion that is Mike Easley is peeled, the smellier it gets.

On Monday, during testimony heard by the state Board of Elections, allegations were made that the two-term North Carolina governor treated himself to almost $90,000 worth of free airplane trips that were campaign related but went unreported, that he paid for $11,000 worth of work done to his Raleigh home with money drawn from his campaign, and that he directed people who were maxed out in contributing to his campaign to give money to the state Democratic Party with the understanding it would be re-routed directly to his campaign.

All would be serious campaign violations, but the list is longer: There remain unanswered questions about a land deal at the beach, a membership at an exclusive golf course, the irrigation of that golf course during a chronic state drought, and Easley’s involvement with the hiring of his wife for a sweetheart job at N.C. State.

Monday’s testimony concerning the airplane trips and work at his Raleigh home came from McQueen Campbell, a longtime pal of Easley, a Raleigh developer, and the former chairman of the board of trustees at N.C. State. Campbell resigned that position in the fallout concerning Mary Easley’s job on the Raleigh campus.

Easley’s personal lawyer Thomas Hicks, unsurprisingly, spent a few minutes during a break Monday speaking directly to the media, saying Easley would deny all the allegations. Implicit in Hicks’ words was that Easley could not have been so dumb as to have made those blatant missteps. Tuesday’s testimony included a lot of “I don’t recalls” and painted a picture of a campaign with no one at the steering wheel.

Given that Easley is a lawyer and the former attorney general of North Carolina, Hicks’ argument that he couldn’t have been so dumb makes sense, except that it doesn’t factor in arrogance, nor will it change any minds. The evidence will, one way or the other, and today Easley is expected to take the stand and tell his side of the story. He will have a lot of explaining to do.

If in the end the allegations are in the same ballpark as the truth, this case is headed to the District Attorney’s Office in Wake County, which could bring criminal charges. It’s not hard to envision a scenario in which Easley follows the same path blazed by fellow Democrat Jim Black, arguably the second most power politician in this state for the greater part of this decade, behind only Easley, before the former House speaker was ushered off to prison.