Advisory opinions could affect Deal cases

A series of draft advisory opinions from the state ethics commission could spell more trouble for Gov. Nathan Deal.

A commission attorney recently released four draft opinions — interpretations of state ethics laws — that will likely play a significant role in deciding whether a series of complaints filed against Deal move forward.

The commission meets July 23 and is expected to take up five complaints pending against Deal. The complaints, largely based on reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, accuse Deal of:

• Personally profiting from his campaign's aircraft rentals
• Improperly using state campaign funds for legal bills related to a federal ethics investigation
• Accepting campaign contributions in excess of legal limits.

On the question of a campaign's air travel, the draft advisory opinion says that if a candidate paid less than fair market value for the use of an aircraft in which he has an ownership interest he must disclose the difference as an in-kind contribution. But, if he paid more than fair market value he must either reimburse the campaign for the difference out of personal funds or list it as an in-kind contribution from the owners of the plane.

Deal did neither of those things in reporting how he paid his own company for use of an airplane that it co-owns with several other individuals. Deal's campaign in 2010 told the AJC it's monthly $6,000 payments for use of the aircraft were more than fair-market value.

Efforts to reach Deal attorney Randy Evans were not successful Friday.

On the use of state campaign funds to pay for legal fees related to a federal inquiry, the advisory opinion says that is not allowed if the federal case "does not directly relate" to the state campaign.

In reply to Evans' request for a similar opinion, the commission's attorney said that legal fees are not always an allowable expense under the law.

"Even if legal fees would not have been incurred but for a particular candidate's pursuit of state office, it does not necessarily follow that those legal fees are 'ordinary and necessary expenses,'" the opinion says.

Ultimately, commission attorney Jonathan Hawkins wrote, the commission must decide on a case-by-case basis whether it's allowed. But, he wrote, "at a minimum, such legal fees must directly relate to a state campaign and arise from conduct occurring during a campaign."

Deal was a member of Congress when he launched his bid for governor. He faced a congressional ethics investigation after the AJC reported in 2009 that he and a business partner had a lucrative, no-bid agreement with the state Department of Revenue to provide space for the state to inspect rebuilt salvaged cars. He paid Evans and the McKenna Long law firm thousands of dollars to defend him in that investigation, an inquiry that was ultimately dropped after Deal resigned from the U.S. House in 2010.