Gov. Nathan Deal was cleared Monday of major state ethics violations, effectively ending more than two years of complaints and investigations into Deal's 2010 bid for governor.
The state ethics commission voted to dismiss the most serious allegations — that Deal benefited when his campaign paid for airfare on a plane that he partly owned and that he improperly used state campaign dollars to pay for legal fees related to a federal ethics investigation.
Deal, a first-term Republican, agreed to pay $3,350 in administrative fees for a series of "technical defects" in his financial and campaign disclosures. In doing so, he becomes the second governor forced to pay the commission for ethics missteps. Former Gov. Sonny Perdue was the first when he paid a $1,900 fine in 2005.
The state ethics commission "held us to the highest possible standard imaginable," Deal attorney Randy Evans said. "If anything, I think we were held to higher scrutiny."
Deal and the commission agreed to financial penalties in three cases where Deal admits to making more than 50 mistakes in campaign finance and personal financial disclosures. The mistakes are considered "technical defects" as opposed to ethics violations and each mistake carries a maximum fee of $50 to correct. The levy is specifically considered a "fee" in state law as opposed to a "fine."
Two other complaints involved allegations that Deal improperly paid his daughter's firm for fund raising services and that he conspired with a former ethics commission chairman to quash an investigation were also dismissed.
In the settled cases, the first dealt with claims the governor improperly disclosed campaign expenditures. The commission found he had failed to list the name that appears on a credit card used for campaign purchases. The violations, 53 in all, were considered technical in nature.
In the second case, the governor's campaign did not properly report assets and liabilities on personal finance disclosure forms. The commission again found these to be technical defects and Deal must pay a $600 fee.
On the third case, Deal acknowledges that two donors who had already given the maximum to his 2010 general election campaign contributed another $100 that was meant for a primary runoff but were mistakenly listed as being for the general election.
But it was the complaints regarding the campaign's air travel and Deal's legal bills that had brought the most attention over the past several years.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in September 2010 that Deal's campaign had paid a company that he partly owned $135,000 for the use of an airplane. Rome-based ethics watchdog George Anderson later filed an ethics complaint that accused Deal of financially benefiting from campaign expenditures.
But the ethics commission unanimously said Monday that there was no probable cause to believe Deal violated the law that prohibits such a personal benefit.
The other high-profile case was also a result of reporting by the AJC. The paper reported in 2009 that Deal for years had a lucrative, no-bid agreement with the state to provide space for state employees to inspect rebuilt salvaged cars. The AJC found that Deal and his staff had personally intervened with state officials who wanted to open the program to more locations.
The story prompted an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which found that Deal, then a member of the U.S. House, might have violated federal ethics rules. Deal resigned from the U.S. House before the investigation could move forward. But in defending himself, Deal used his gubernatorial campaign account to pay Evans and others at the McKenna Long law firm.
The complaint, filed by Alpharetta resident Elizabeth Ott, said Deal violated state law that requires campaign funds only be used for necessary expenses related to that campaign. But Evans argued Monday that the law is vague and that by any reasonable test the payments were acceptable.
By a 3-1 vote, the commission agreed. Commissioner Kent Alexander, a former U.S. attorney, was the lone member who voted to send the case to a judge.
William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, a government watchdog group, said the commission's decisions were troubling.
"There was a lot of discussion of a lot of tests today, but the one test that wasn't applied was common sense," Perry said. "The attorneys fees were at the federal level and state funds were used to pay for them. Whether it's a weakness in our laws or a weakness in this decision, I really think it's dangerous to not let these things go forward."
Deal cases settled
Gov. Nathan Deal agreed to settle three ethics cases against him.
1. Deal will pay $2,650 in administrative fees over mistakes in reporting expenditures. Deal's campaign failed to identify the campaign aide whose credit card was used more than 50 times. Each instance carries a $50 fee.
2. Deal improperly reported assets and liabilities on his personal finance disclosures and must pay $600 in fees.
3. Deal's campaign mistakenly applied a $100 contribution to his general election fund rather than the primary runoff fund to which it was intended. The money was given by a couple who had previously given the maximum allowed for the general election. Deal must pay $100 in fees.
Four other cases were dismissed.
1. Deal was accused of improperly using his gubernatorial account to pay legal fees related to a federal ethics investigation. The commission voted 3-1 to dismiss the complaint.
2. Deal's campaign paid a company in which he has an ownership interest more than $100,000 for airfare and related costs and was accused of personally benefiting from the arrangement. The commission voted unanimously that there was not probable cause to believe Deal violated the law.
3. Deal hired his daughter-in-law's company to raise money for his campaign. A complaint alleged that violated campaign finance laws. The commission staff dismissed the complaint outright.
4. Deal was accused of conspiring with Patrick Millsaps, a former chairman of the ethics commission, to derail several of these complaints. The commission staff dismissed the complaint.
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