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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USRichardson goes on offensive
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Facing a salacious ethics complaint, House Speaker Glenn Richardson publicly went on the offensive today, saying he is hunting for the people who have attempted to “poison” him.
“The last few weeks, I have been fed a little poison and I’ve taken it,” Richardson (R-Hiram) said in a brief speech to an audience of politicians and business leaders at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast.
“But the bad news — for those that manufactured, dispensed and stirred unreasonably the poison — is that I survived. I’m looking for the folks that manufactured that poison.”
In an interview after the speech, Richardson confirmed that he was referring to ethics complaints filed by Bobby Kahn, the state’s Democratic Party chairman. Kahn is alleging Richardson had an “inappropriate personal” relationship with a female lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light last year while co-sponsoring a bill to finance a $300 million pipeline for the utility.
Kahn has so far presented no evidence of the relationship. He has also declined to characterize the alleged relationship beyond saying it was “inappropriate” and “personal.”
Asked whether he denies having such a relationship with an AGL lobbyist, Richardson said he would not address the allegation.
“We are not going to start responding to specious rumors, allegations, innuendos that they swear under oath is ‘common knowledge,’ Richardson said. “They don’t even tell where they got it from.”
Richardson said Kahn’s allegations are without merit and he predicted they would be dismissed.
“He made up a story … used the news media to try to sensationalize something that was ludicrous,” Richardson said of Kahn. “I want to know who all else was behind it with him. It was clear all it was was a hatchet job.”
Asked about Richardson’s comments, Kahn said, “If he wants to look for the source of the poison, he should look in the mirror.”
Kahn said the Democratic Party mailed the complaint to the State Ethics Commission and the Joint Committee on Ethics Friday. The complaint was also hand-delivered to the ethics panels Monday, Kahn said.
A spokesman for AGL Resources, the parent company of Atlanta Gas Light, has said the utility never tried to inappropriately influence legislation.
“Whatever is being alleged about the speaker’s conduct does not involve our company,” Keith Poston, a spokesman for AGL Resources, said in an interview Sunday.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) predicted Kahn’s allegations will “dominate much of the session until it is resolved.”
“This is an issue that I think the Republican caucus has got to deal with,” Porter said. “If a charge has been filed, then it has got to be responded to in some way by the ethics committee.”
Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) serves as co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Ethics.
“We are taking this committee and this issue very seriously,” Johnson said, “And we will deal with it appropriately when the darn thing arrives on my desk.”
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