When Gov. Nathan Deal went looking for someone to appoint to Georgia’s ethics commission, he chose the man he paid for years to make sure his campaign disclosures were accurate.
Deal announced late Friday that he was naming Rick Thompson, founding partner of RTA Strategy and a former executive secretary of the commission, to the agency’s board.
The commission, formally known as the the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, handles candidate campaign disclosure filing, officeholder financial disclosure issues, lobbyists disclosure and registrations, and other issues involving government ethics. The panel rules on complaints filed against candidates, donors and lobbyists.
Thompson was an aggressive executive secretary during the 2000s, auditing campaign disclosures to make sure the numbers added up and going after politicians when they didn’t.
After leaving the job in 2009, he founded a company that handles disclosure issues. His firm has been paid more than $250,000 by Deal and the governor’s political action committee for consulting and compliance work. He has also worked for other politicians.
Thompson has also lobbied at the Capitol in recent years for his companies.
He replaces Heath Garrett, one of two commission members who submitted their resignations this month.
Hillary Stringfellow, who had been serving as the board’s chairwoman, also resigned. Stringfellow was appointed by House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge. A spokesman said that no decision has been about her successor.
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