Attorneys for former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine head to court Friday in hopes of resolving ethics complaints that stretch back to his failed 2010 campaign for governor.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk will hear arguments in Oxendine’s bid to get the courts to essentially throw out charges from an amended state ethics commission complaint filed against him last year.
The commission’s complaint said that Oxendine took illegal contributions and spent campaign money on runoff and general election races he never ran after losing the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2010.
The additional charges stemmed, in part, from Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports about what Oxendine did with about $750,000 in contributions he raised for those races he never ran, and what he did with more than $500,000 in leftover contributions.
The ethics commission dismissed several charges against Oxendine in December after his lawyer argued that the statute of limitations had run out on the allegations. But it voted to move ahead with other charges.
If Oxendine is successful, the case could lead to more politicians asking the courts to interpret state ethics laws while cases are ongoing, rather than leaving it up to the commission. The ruling could also affect other ethics complaints awaiting commission action, officials said.
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