(Reuters) - The North Carolina Republican embroiled in a vote fraud controversy said on Friday he hired the political operative at the center of a probe into possible absentee ballot irregularities in a disputed U.S. congressional election. FILE PHOTO: Mark Harris attends a debate between the four top-polling Republican candidates in North Carolina for the U.S. House of Representatives as it investigates possible fraud involving absentee ballots linked to Leslie McCrae Dowless, the consultant.