Jack Kingston

ATLANTA - An Atlanta lawyer says he warned Rep. Jack Kingston's U.S. Senate campaign about questionable contributions from a north Georgia fundraiser.

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, attorney Alex Kaufman said he shared the information during a May 1 meeting with Kingston's campaign attorney and an attorney for the Georgia Republican Party.

Kaufman said he informed the two lawyers that money donated at the Dec. 6 fundraiser came from bundled checks from employees of companies who were given "bonuses" and told to contribute to the congressman's Senate campaign.

Kaufman said he shared information about potential problems out of concern for the Kingston campaign.

"We're not out to get (Kingston). We were out to help him," Kaufman said.

Kingston told the Atlanta newspaper last week that he had no knowledge that his campaign had received potentially illegal contributions.

Two days after that interview, Kingston pledged to return $80,000 collected at the fundraiser.

Kingston spokesman Chris Crawford confirmed that Kingston's campaign attorney, John Eunice, attended the May 1 meeting.

"At this meeting, our campaign was informed of an internal dispute among former business associates," Crawford said. "We immediately reviewed our internal processes and confirmed we were in full compliance with the law and federal regulations," he said.

All the disputed donations to Kingston's campaign have now been returned, Crawford said.