Nathan Deal: ‘I've done nothing wrong'

By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said Tuesday he has done nothing wrong and welcomes "an opportunity to state the facts" regarding efforts by two congressional ethics investigators to probe a lucrative 20-year business deal Deal had with state government.

Deal, a 2010 Republican candidate for governor, would not comment Monday when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked about about the inquiries being made by the Office of Congressional Ethics and the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Documents obtained by the AJC and detailed in Tuesday's newspaper show both groups have been in contact with the state Department of Revenue for documents and interviews regarding Deal's role in a business with the state that earned his company $1.5 million from 2004 through 2008.

In an online chat conducted through his gubernatorial campaign's Web site, Tom Crawford, a veteran political reporter who runs the Capitol Impact online news site, asked Deal if the "investigation into the ethics allegations regarding your auto salvage business and its contract with the state (will) have a negative impact on your campaign?"

Deal responded: "No, I've done nothing wrong. I welcome an opportunity to state the facts."

Deal also took at shot at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan ethics watchdog group that filed a complaint against Deal with the Office of Congressional Ethics over Deal's business practice. The complaint was filed after the AJC reported in August that Deal and his congressional staff personally intervened with state officials to try and prevent changes from being made to the obscure state program that regulates how vehicles that are totaled and rebuilt are inspected for new ownership titles.

"On the subject of CREW, who filed the complaint," Deal wrote, "this is the same liberal organization that continues to attack the Bush administration. As a former Bush administration officials (sic) said they litigate for sport and distort the facts.'"

Asked for a response, CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said Deal should focus on his own troubles.

"Given the hot water in which Rep. Deal finds himself, it is no wonder he is trying to change the subject," Sloan said. "It is not CREW investigating the congressman, however, it’s the House ethics committee and the Office of Congressional Ethics."

According to CREW's Web site, the group has filed ethics complaints or called for investigations this year against Deal,  U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)  and U.S. Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.). CREW has also asked for investigations into a Minnesota Republican and a California Democrat and called on U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) to step down from the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.