On Monday, Rep. Debra Conrad, R-Forsyth, said “I have no clue what the governor meant by the inclusion of that statement in his press release on HB 17.”

“There was no plan to expand the N.C. Supreme Court in the latest special session by the legislature in any meetings of which I was a part.”

Some legislative leaders, as well as state Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse, mocked local, state and national media for reporting on what they called Democratic speculation.

Woodhouse said Dec. 13 that “as a former news reporter, I am embarrassed by how the press fell hook, line and sinker for a court expansion crisis that was speculated by Democrats, rumored by Democrats and fed by Democrats.

“If any of your stories read that ‘Republicans back off court expansion,’ you will further be lying to your readers because you have accused us of doing something that we were never doing.”

Sen. Robert Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, said Friday at the end of the fourth special session that “talk of court-packing, that’s fake news.”