Jack Kingston, frontrunner in the GOP runoff for U.S. Senate, this morning said that a May 1 meeting with an attorney, who claims he informed the Kingston campaign that foreign national with a criminal past had illegally bundled $80,000 for his Senate bid, never included “any discussion of a felon.”
The Savannah congressman made the remarks in an interview this morning with Martha Zoller and Tim Bryant on WGAU (1340AM) in Athens.
Kingston was responding to this morning's AJC article by Chris Joyner. Here's the top:
An Atlanta attorney claims he informed Rep. Jack Kingston’s U.S. Senate campaign six weeks ago about potentially illegal contributions to his campaign and the criminal background of Khalid Satary, a Palestinian who allegedly orchestrated the fundraiser where the funds were collected.
Alex Kaufman said he and his client, a former business associate of Satary’s, told the campaign that money donated at the Dec. 6 fundraiser came from bundled checks from employees who were given “bonuses” and told to contribute to the congressman’s Senate campaign. Kaufman said he also told the campaign that he intended to take the information to the FBI.
Kaufman’s account of a face-to-face meeting with Kingston’s campaign attorney and an attorney for the Georgia Republican Party on May 1 contradicts what Kingston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview last week. In that interview, Kingston said he had no knowledge of Satary’s criminal past or that his campaign had received potentially illegal contributions.
Two days after the interview, Kingston pledged to return $80,000 collected at the fundraiser. When asked about Kaufman’s assertions Thursday, Kingston’s campaign again denied any knowledge of Satary, or that his campaign was previously informed about potentially illegal campaign contributions.
Listen to the entire Zoller/Bryant interview here – in the latter half, Kingston also accuses GOP runoff rival David Perdue of Eric Cantor-like moderation. But here's what Kingston said about the AJC investigation:
"Let me say, No. 1, we did not have to give back any money. We voluntarily returned any money that was associated with the business which this man apparently had a relationship with.
“Do not know the man. Do not know him now. He did not donate to us. He’s a foreign national. It would be illegal for him to donate. The Atlanta Constitution says we’re not subject to any of their investigations from a legal standpoint.
“Our big concern was, did we do anything illegally, which we did not do. It’s an election year – you have to consider some of these sources. We’re just moving on, but again let me underscore – we did not have to return one nickel. Nor did we receive any money from a felon.”
Bryant brought up the May 1 meeting at which the contributions were discussed, which not only included a Kingston campaign attorney, but Anne Lewis, legal counsel for the Georgia GOP.
“You’re saying your attorney did not relay that to you?” Bryant asked. Kingston replied:
“Well, No. 1, he met with one of our staffers who is an attorney, but it was not an attorney-type meeting in any sort of sense. He’s representing a party who is having a dispute with their employer, and said there were some issues involved.
“We went back and looked at all the notes. There was never any discussion of a felon or – you can say this guy is unsavory, but the guy they were referring to did not donate to our campaign. Nor, to my knowledge, was he involved in this. The people we dealt with were people who are listed on the invitation….
“Our folks are aware that, within the company, there had become an internal dispute. That meeting to which you’re referring to was in May. We have been looking into that ever since then. But I did not know this guy Satary was involved in anything....."
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