Follow us on

Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 | 4:52 p.m.

Subscribe | Today's paper | Customer care

Powered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Web Search by YAHOO!
 

Aaron Gould Sheinin

Aaron Gould Sheinin covers the Legislature and state agencies. He joined the AJC in 2007.

Latest from Aaron Gould Sheinin

Ethics attorney says chairman pressured her to settle Deal cases

Ethics commission Chairman Kevin Abernethy pressured the agency’s attorney to quietly settle cases against Gov. Nathan Deal, the attorney said in a sworn statement obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Abernethy vigorously denied the claims made by Elisabeth Murray-Obertein, the commission’s staff attorney. She made the accusation in an affidavit filed ...

  • Updated: 5:39 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, 2013
  • Comments  (2)   

Ethics lawyer says chairman pressured her to settle Deal cases

Ethics commission Chairman Kevin Abernethy pressured the agency’s attorney to quietly settle cases against Gov. Nathan Deal, the attorney said in a sworn statement obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Abernethy vigorously denied the claims made by Elisabeth Murray-Obertein, the commission’s staff attorney. She made the accusation in an affidavit filed ...

  • 4:11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, 2013
  • Comments  (14)   

Georgia ethics commission still considering parameters of independent probe

The state ethics commission has yet to formally ask Attorney General Sam Olens to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct at the agency. “We are still working through the precise parameters of it,” commission Chairman Kevin Abernethy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Meanwhile, another investigation is just ...

  • 6:08 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013
Holly LaBerge before her appointment as executive director of the state ethics commission in August 2011, she was a lobbyist for the state Public Defenders Standards Council. She reportedly said that the governor owed her after the commission cleared him of major ethics violations in July 2012.

Ethics panel calls for independent investigation

The state ethics commission on Monday called for an independent investigation in response to a pair of lawsuits pending against the commission as well as its deepening personnel problems. The commission wants Attorney General Sam Olens to appoint a special outside attorney to lead the investigation. Olens’ spokeswoman said he ...

  • Updated: 6:41 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30, 2013
The head of Georgia’s ethics commission is accused of improperly intervening into an investigation of Gov. Nathan Deal, raising serious questions about the independence of the state panel charged with keeping watch over Georgia’s elected officials. Current and former commission employees told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that Holly LaBerge ordered documents removed from the official state investigative file on Deal and met with top aides to the Republican governor while the probe was ongoing.

Ethics commission calls for special investigation

The state ethics commission on Monday called for an independent investigation in response to a pair of lawsuits pending against the agency as well as its deepening personnel problems. The commission wants Attorney General Sam Olens to appoint a special, outside attorney to lead the investigation. The commission faces whistleblower ...

  • 11:38 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, 2013
  • Comments  (34)   
Sen. Don Balfour , with attorney Robert Highsmith behind him, speaks briefly with members of the press as he leaves the capitol. The ethics committee was still in executive session but was believed to have accepted a settlement. The Senate Ethics Committee met and went into executive session where it is believed they have reached a settlement with Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, over a series of charges that he violated ethics rules and possibly state law. Balfour, chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, said a few words to the press and left before the executive session was over.

Sen. Balfour faces 18 counts, possible suspension

State. Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, once arguably the most powerful man in the Senate, was indicted Friday by a Fulton County grand jury on 18 counts of false expense claims and theft. Attorney General Sam Olens, whose office is prosecuting the case, released the indictment, which is based on allegations ...

  • Updated: 7:23 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, 2013
Gov. Nathan Deal talks to reporters Thursday about allegations that the head of the state ethics commission intervened on his behalf during an investigation.

Watchdogs continue to press Deal case

A Washington-based watchdog group has sued the Department of Justice for refusing to turn over documents related to its involvement in the investigation of Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign for governor. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants a federal judge to order the Justice Department to produce records of ...

  • 4:12 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013
  • Comments  (11)   
Kent Alexander, a former federal prosecutor who has resigned from the state's ethics commission, said in sworn testimony that the communication between Holly LaBerge and Deal’s office prior to LaBerge’s hiring in August 2011 was “problematic.”

Ex-ethics official had concerns

The lone Democrat on Georgia’s ethics panel was kept in the dark as two Republican commissioners consulted with Nathan Deal’s office to replace the agency’s director in the midst of investigating the governor, according to new legal documents reviewed Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kent Alexander, a former federal prosecutor ...

  • 8:01 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013
  • Comments  (4)   
Gov. Nathan Deal talks to reporters Thursday about allegations that the head of the state ethics commission intervened on his behalf during an investigation.

Ethics chief has received major raises

The embattled head of the state ethics commission has received pay increases of more than 17 percent over the past two years, despite being hired as the agency said it had to cut costs.Holly LaBerge’s salary increased from $85,000 when she came aboard in September 2011 to $92,000 in 2012 ...

  • 8:26 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013

Did ethics head intervene in complaint against Gov. Deal?

The head of Georgia’s ethics commission is accused of improperly intervening into an investigation of Gov. Nathan Deal, raising serious questions about the independence of the state panel charged with keeping watch over Georgia’s elected officials. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s exclusive report reveals allegations by current and former commission employees who ...

  • 9:03 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013
  • Comments  (25)