State officials have put Georgia politicians on notice: You can’t spend campaign funds at business clubs and similar organizations unless it’s for legitimate election expenses.
The notice came in a civil case against former Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards, who admitted misspending $13,836 at the Commerce Club in Atlanta. Under a settlement approved by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission Thursday, Edwards agreed to repay his campaign that amount or donate it to a charity.
In addition, he will pay civil penalties and late fees totaling $2,175.
Commission attorney Robert Lane told the board the ruling would come as a surprise to many politicians, who he said routinely spend campaign cash on memberships and expenses at business clubs, chambers of commerce and similar organizations.
“This will cause a lot of consternation among elected officials,” Lane said. “A lot of them do it.”
Edwards settled charges against him more than a year after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Channel 2 Action News and The Georgia News Lab found he could not account for nearly $80,000 in campaign cash. The campaign finance commission later launched its own audit of Edwards' financial records.
The state audit concluded that no money was missing from Edwards' account. But it found his financial records were such a mess it would not be practical to require him to file six years' worth of corrected campaign reports.
The commission also found Edwards failed to file a campaign disclosure report and filed another one late.
But the ruling on the Commerce Club spending may have a bigger impact on Peach State politicians.
Lane said state law requires money raised for political campaigns to be spent on “ordinary and necessary campaign expenses.” He said the commission gives candidates plenty of leeway – any expenditure calculated to improve a candidate’s chances of winning an election would qualify.
But in Edwards’ case, “there was absolutely no evidence” the Commerce Club expenses were for campaign purposes, Lane said.
Under state law – which mirrors federal law – candidates cannot use campaign cash for social club memberships, he said.
Edwards referred comment to his attorney, George Lawson, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Edwards has until October to repay the misspent Commerce Club money. He has 30 days to pay the civil penalties and late fees.
Edwards served 14 years on the County Commission before he lost a re-election bid in 2014, when redistricting forced him to run against fellow Commissioner Emma Darnell. He sought election again this year but was defeated by Darnell in last month's primary election.
Though the case against him appears to be over, Edwards’ most recent disclosure report, filed in March, also appears to be inaccurate.
Based on his reported contributions and expenditures, he should have more than $20,000 in the bank, an AJC review found. But he reported having $0 on hand.
Ciara Bri’d Frisbie of The Georgia News Lab contributed to this report.
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