The social media fundraising campaign this week by Gov. Nathan Deal's boosters attracted plenty of attention by Democrats who hijacked the message for their own. Now it has also earned a call for an internal investigation.
Clint Murphy, a former GOP operative turned critic of his party, filed a request with the Office of Inspector General on Friday to look into the activities of Sasha Dlugolenski, a press aide who works for Deal's government office.
In the complaint, Murphy claims that Dlugolenski violated a state ban on political activity during work time through a series of tweets she sent boosting her boss. The tweets include a response to the #weknownathan attacks she sent during working hours. (The Deal camp didn't start the hashtag, it should be noted, but adopted it after taking fire from Democratic partisans on social media.)
Murphy called for state investigators to launch a "full, complete and thorough independent review and investigation of this matter."
Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the message Dlugolenski sent during office hours were "issues-based and completely appropriate." He added:
"How desperate for attention and full of blind rage do you have to be to file a complaint against a 24-year-old staffer for saying nice things about her boss on her personal Twitter account? This is more about one political exile's relevancy crisis than about benign tweets."
Folks, this Friday has become a clearinghouse for complaints. Earlier today, an ex-GOP lawmaker filed one against Democrat Jason Carter's gubernatorial campaign; he responded by threatening to return fire.
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