By Shannon McCaffrey
The Associated Press
ATLANTA – Republican gubernatorial hopeful Nathan Deal said Wednesday that as far as he knows he is not the target or the subject of a grand jury probe into his longtime business arrangement with the state.
At the same time, a political blogger has filed an ethics complaint against Republican gubernatorial hopeful Karen Handel, alleging she illegally paid staffers from her old secretary of state campaign fund.
In Deal’s case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham received a federal subpoena last month to produce documents about a 2009 meeting he had with Deal, then a North Georgia congressman.
Deal told The Associated Press he has not been interviewed by federal authorities and has not received a subpoena.
“I think it is somewhat ironic that this surfaces after the original primary and just a couple of weeks before the runoff,” Deal said. “I think you recognize that it is being used as a political tool.”
Records show Graham was asked to appear before the grand jury on June 8. Graham declined to comment Wednesday, and it was not clear if he appeared before the grand jury on that date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Horn said his office does not comment on grand jury investigations.
In 2009, the newspaper reported that Deal spoke with Graham and others about a state program that earned Deal’s Gainesville auto salvage company nearly $300,000 a year. Graham was seeking to change the program in what he says was an effort to bring down costs by introducing more competition.
Deal was lobbying to keep the program unchanged. He reiterated Wednesday that he was motivated not by profit, but by a desire to protect the public from what he says are rebuilt cars that are no longer subject to rigorous inspections.
The discussions sparked a congressional ethics probe. In March, before the probe was complete, Deal announced he was leaving Congress to run for governor.
The nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics later said Deal may have violated House ethics rules by using his position to lobby state officials on behalf of his auto salvage business. They recommended that the House Committee on Standards investigate. Deal stepped down before the panel decided whether to take up the matter.
Deal said he did not regret his decision to meet with Graham about the program, even though it has prompted him to answer questions about ethics.
He said he is the best candidate to attract independent voters and to run against Democrat Roy Barnes in November.
“I think I am the candidate that can keep Republicans from defecting,” Deal said, adding that would be a concern if Handel is the Republican nominee.
Handel’s spokesman Dan McLagan said the former secretary of state is “positive, nice, smart, an outsider reformer, and she’s Roy’s worst nightmare.”
But political blogger Bill Simon filed a complaint this week noting four expenditures from Handel’s secretary of state fund after Handel had announced her bid for governor in January 2009.
Handel’s lawyer, Robert Highsmith, said Wednesday the expenditures of $13,200 were legal and has asked the state Ethics Commission to dismiss the complaint.
He said the staffers in question were not working on Handel’s gubernatorial bid. Under Georgia law, campaign money is supposed to be used for the office for which it was raised.
“It’s perfectly appropriate for office holders to have access to political advice and have campaign funds pay for it,” Highsmith said.
McLagan said the complaint was frivolous and noted Simon’s company received money from John Oxendine and Eric Johnson, two of Handel’s opponents in the GOP primary.