A group that has spent millions of dollars attacking Lt. Gov. Burt Jones faces formal charges of violating Georgia lobbying and campaign finance laws.
The State Ethics Commission on Monday found probable cause that Delaware-based Georgians for Integrity should have registered as an independent political committee and disclosed its spending on thousands of ads targeting Jones. It also accused the group of failing to register and report lobbying activities.
Monday’s action means the ethics commission investigation will continue toward an administrative trial on 10 alleged violations. It came over the objections of Georgians for Integrity’s attorney, James Tyrrell III, who told the commission the political group has done nothing wrong and called the investigation “a waste of government resources.”
Ethics Commission Executive Director David Emadi said he was pleased with the board’s decision.
“Despite GFI’s crocodile tears today, the fact is spending millions of dollars in dark money to influence elections and legislation is illegal and violators should be held accountable,” Emadi said.
The investigation comes amid a governor’s race that has become a big-money slugfest. Jones faces Attorney General Chris Carr, health care executive Rick Jackson and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the May 19 Republican primary.
Georgians for Integrity has spent at least $19 million on ads attacking Jones since November. The group has no public face and has not disclosed its donors, leading to speculation — but no answers — about who’s behind it.
The group’s ads have accused Jones of profiting from legislative decisions, including boosting lawmaker pensions and supporting a $10 billion Butts County data center and hospital development on property owned by Jones’ father. The ads urge Georgians to call Jones’ office to stop such actions.
But the ads have not explicitly mentioned the governor’s race or encouraged people to vote for specific candidates. Nor have they explicitly mentioned pending legislation.
Tyrrell argued that means Georgians for Integrity has not violated lobbying or campaign finance laws.
“Merely promoting civic engagement and public discussion of issues is not lobbying under Georgia law,” he told the commission.
Emadi said the group is involved in indirect lobbying on the issues cited in its ads.
“If you spend money to shape the debate with the public and urge them to influence public policy, that is lobbying,” he told the commission.
But he was less certain Georgians for Integrity has violated laws requiring it to register as an independent political committee seeking to influence elections. Emadi noted the ads did not use “magic words” that courts have identified as campaign advocacy — such as “vote for” or “vote against” — or even mention the governor’s race.
The commission voted 4-1 to find probable cause of seven lobbying-related violations. It voted 3-2 to find probable cause for three campaign finance violations. The votes amount to permission for Emadi’s staff to continue investigating the charges.
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