A federal investigation into a meeting at the Georgia Capitol last year involving Nathan Deal, then a member of Congress, has not targeted Deal, his chief of staff or his Gainesville business partner, Deal said Wednesday.
None of the parties to the meeting, in which Deal sought to preserve a lucrative longstanding business relationship with the state, is the subject of the investigation, those parties or their spokesmen said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that the grand jury had subpoenaed state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, with whom Deal and others met to talk about Deal's business, to give evidence relating to the meeting.
Deal, who is in the Aug. 10 runoff for the Republican nomination for governor, said the timing of the grand jury revelation is suspect.
"I think it is somewhat ironic that this surfaces after the original primary and just a couple of weeks before the runoff," he said in an interview with the Associated Press Wednesday. "I think you recognize that it is being used as a political tool."
Deal's campaign spokesman told The Times of Gainesville Wednesday that "all of this has been put behind us."
“Neither Nathan, nor anyone who worked for him, nor Ken Cronan, is under federal subpoena," said spokesman Brian Robinson. "After we found out about this, we talked to the U.S. attorney’s office and they have assured us that Nathan nor anyone else is the target or the subject of a federal investigation. The timing of this is suspicious, but Nathan is not the subject or the target of a federal investigation.”
Deal and Cronan operate a salvage yard in Gainesville that for nearly 20 years enjoyed a no-bid agreement with the state to provide space for inspections of rebuilt vehicles. The AJC reported in August 2009 that Deal intervened with Graham and other state leaders to stop Graham from changing the program that earned Deal and Cronan's company nearly $300,000 a year.
The newspaper's report led to a congressional ethics investigation that found Deal possibly violated U.S. House rules. Deal resigned from Congress in March before any formal accusation was made.
Graham, the revenue commissioner, was ordered to provide information and documents regarding a March 27, 2009, meeting with Deal, Cronan, Cronan's son, Deal's then-chief of staff Chris Riley, state Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) and deputy commissioner Mack Chandler.
Riley, who is now Deal's campaign manager, asked for the meeting, records show, and Graham's plan to privatize the inspection process and to open it up to more locations was discussed. It was a hostile meeting.
But what or whom the U.S. attorney is investigating is unclear.
"What the U.S. attorney probably doesn't want to do right now is get involved in a gubernatorial election," said Buddy Parker, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice.
"But it strikes me that this is a preliminary survey to see if they want to really investigate something," Parker said. "And it's not yet risen to the level of ‘Wow, we know there's a crime, we just have to see if we can put a case together.'"
If Parker is correct, the fact that Deal and the others say they are not the subject or target of an investigation could make more sense. A "target" in a federal probe is someone prosecutors believe might have committed a crime, someone "with a target on his back," Parker said. A "subject" of an investigation falls into a broader category and refers to someone involved in the the focus of the investigation. That person could become a target.
"But at a minimum they are a witness to presumed relevant conduct," Parker said.
Melissa Weinman of The (Gainesville) Times contributed.
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