The state ethics commission’s former attorney testified Thursday that she was told the agency’s prior leaders were fired for going “off the reservation” in investigating Gov. Nathan Deal.
Stacey Kalberman and Sherilyn Streicker investigated things “the commission didn’t want them investigating,” Elisabeth Murray-Obertein testified as the trial of Kalberman’s whistleblower lawsuit entered its fourth and possibly final day in a Fulton County courtroom. Kalberman, the former commission director, claims she was forced from office and her deputy fired for aggressively investigating Deal’s 2010 campaign and that Holly Laberge was handpicked by Deal’s staff to replace her.
Murray-Obertein testified that Laberge told her, “They felt Stacey and Sherry were delving into the (Deal) investigation too deeply.”
Earlier Thursday, Streicker testified that there were no hints her job as Kalberman’s top deputy was in danger until after she drafted subpoenas for records in the Deal campaign investigation. The subpoenas are key to the case, as Kalberman and Streicker were both out of a job barely a month after presenting draft subpoenas to the commission for approval.
Streicker testified she never believed the commission would aggressively pursue charges against Deal.
“I knew the commissioners weren’t going to move forward with this, just seeing the way they handled the previous cases dealt with,” Streicker testified under cross-examination by Assistant Attorney General Laura McDonald.
The subpoenas were never issued. The complaints filed against Deal’s campaign were resolved in 2012 when commissioners dismissed major charges against Deal and levied $3,350 in fees for technical defects in his campaign reports.
Streicker has also filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the commission, as has John Hair, a former media specialist at the agency who also testified Thursday. Hair said Laberge often asked him to alter or remove files from commission computer servers and put them on a removable hard drive that he would hand-deliver to Laberge.
That only happened, Hair said, with files related to Deal.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, expecting the final four witnesses to wrap up in time for the jury to be given instructions, told jurors they might begin deliberations Thursday.
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