Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is scheduled to go before the state ethics commission less than a month before a crowded primary contest in which he is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
Stefan Passantino, Oxendine’s attorney, said his client received a letter notifying him of the June 24 hearing before the commission. Primary elections are set for July 20. Oxendine is considered a GOP front-runner and currently faces six challengers.
Passantino said Friday that the timing of the hearing smacked of “a political hit job.”
“It sure looks to me like there’s a political motivation behind it,” he said. “I’m not aware of situations where they’re going to take a preliminary hearing against a front-running candidate for governor three weeks before a contested primary. It’s completely improper and contrary to the way the ethics commission has operated for as long as I’ve been representing clients before them.”
Last year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that two insurance companies funneled almost 10 times the legal limit to Oxendine, using 10 Alabama-based political action committees. Georgia law forbids public officials from taking money from the companies they regulate.
Oxendine later returned the money.
Ethics commission rules state that the agency can’t begin an investigation of a complaint filed within 30 days of an election in which the person is a candidate. Passantino said that although the scheduled hearing does not violate the statute, it is nonetheless unusual.
“And to my knowledge, they have no more evidence than they had in October 2009 when they concluded there was not enough evidence to find probable cause,” he said.
Stacey Kalberman, the ethics panel’s executive secretary, was unavailable Friday afternoon as the ethics commission closed early for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Passantino said he has contacted the ethics commission to voice his concerns and said he is optimistic that the hearing will be postponed.
Topics Georgia
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