Atlanta Unfiltered

A federal detainee who died in Georgia last year of a treatable heart infection had suffered chest pains for the previous three days, contradicting officials’ prior account of the man’s death, an advocacy group said Thursday. Full Story

Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam has racked up $22,381 in liens for unpaid federal and state income taxes for eight consecutive years. The state Revenue Department executed the latest lien Jan. 25, shortly after reporting that a House member had not filed a 2008 tax return, but officials aren’t saying whether it’s her. “I don’t have money,” Abdul-Salaam said. “I struggle like most of my constituents, but I never run from my obligations.” Full Story

Citizen overseers have called on Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to ensure that police officers are disciplined if they keep refusing to answer investigators’ questions. But for a start, members of the Citizen Review Board said, Reed could return their calls. Full Story

On New Year’s Eve, Mayor-elect Kasim Reed could celebrate knowing his campaign fund, even after spending $2.5 million to win the job, had a six-figure bank balance. Much of it came from lawyers, contractors and consultants with money on their minds. Their support underscores the inherent tension in soliciting political donations from people looking to do a little business once their candidates take office. “You’re asking people to be awfully gullible to believe all those contributions are being made out of civic interest and public pride,” said Atlanta attorney Emmet Bondurant. Full Story

Since 2001, Georgia has asked local political candidates who raise $10,000 or more to disclose the details — who gave it to you, how much, how you spent it — by “electronic means.” So what exactly does that mean? It definitely does not mean making it easy for the public to find them. Check out my Ethics Watch column for this week in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Full Story

Hundreds of state officials — legislators, department heads, members of boards and commissions — haven’t submitted financial disclosures that were due last July. Countless politicians also failed to report campaign finances on time — or at all. But the State Ethics Commission, crippled by budget cuts, usually does nothing more than e-mail them a reminder. Says Tom Plank, interim executive secretary of the commission: “We can’t even mail them a letter.” Read my Ethics Watch column online here in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Full Story

Robb Pitts and the State Ethics Commission are headed to court to settle an 8-year-old dispute over excessive and unreported campaign loans. The commission Monday rejected a proposed consent order that would have closed the matter with Pitts paying no fine and no restitution. Commission members were told Pitts could still win in court and wind up with no penalty or finding of responsibility. Kent Alexander, a former federal prosecutor, said he’d rather lose in court “than have the commission say an elected official who is an experienced campaigner violates the rules” and gets away with it. Full Story

Robert Proctor was a state ethics commissioner so briefly that he never got to attend a meeting. Even though he’s gone, commissioners were told today, he should not be forgotten. Proctor resigned for “health reasons” last week after insisting he had never been properly notified of an old ethics fine and therefore did not intend to pay it. In doing so, Proctor is “essentially giving this commission and the citizens of this state the rigid digit,” said Frank Moore, an attorney who has sparred with him in court. Full Story

Glenn Richardson’s political action committee registered as tax-exempt Tuesday, but it’s not clear whether that will defuse an investigation into his transfer of $219,915 in leftover campaign cash to the committee. The State Ethics Commission is looking into the payment of that money from Richardson’s campaign account to the MMV Alliance Fund on New Year’s Eve. The question is: Would a tax-exempt filing in February allow MMV to accept a couple hundred thousand dollars in campaign money five weeks earlier? Full Story

Former Superior Court Judge Brooks E. Blitch III of Clinch County was sentenced Tuesday to three years’ probation and fined $100,000 after pleading guilty to fraud in federal court in Macon. Blitch’s crime was punishable by up to 20 years in prison but he avoided prison time under the plea agreement. Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges in a 78-page indictment that accused Blitch, among other things, of appointing friends to judgeships and other court jobs that required little or no work. In his plea, Blitch admitted releasing three criminal defendants from jail in 2006 and 2007 after… Full Story

The Georgia Supreme Court accepted Charles A. Thomas Jr.’s surrender of his law license today. Maybe he can be a “jailhouse lawyer” while he’s serving his six-year prison sentence for theft and forgery. Thomas, a member of the Georgia House from 1979 through 1994, sold title insurance for Stewart Title Guaranty Co. until losing that privilege in 2004. Since then, Thomas continued to offer title insurance to clients, forging the policies and collecting the premiums for himself. Full Story

In 2007, Rudy Eller hid a gun fired by his chief deputy in a domestic dispute and lied to GBI investigators about it. A year later, Eller pleaded guilty to making false statements, tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension of a criminal, and violating his oath of office. Eller’s lawyer and the district attorney asked the judge to show mercy on Eller, who suffers from diabetes and emphysema. But Superior Court Judge Lynn Alderman was unmoved: “The court is in the business of justice. Mercy is for the Lord and other parties who are not here today.” Full Story

By MARIAN WANG/ProPublica

Tickle fights vs. groping. Salty language vs. sexual harassment. For those who’ve been following the media circus around ex-Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), there’s been quite a lot to follow. Nonetheless, on Wednesday the House ethics committee closed its investigation into Massa, claiming his resignation rendered any findings “irrelevant” and put him “outside the reach of any punishment,” according to The Washington Post.

This decision has only inflamed the partisan ethics battle within the House of Representatives. Republicans, wanting the probe to continue, criticized Democrats for failing to look into one of their own. Democrats… Full Story

A former New Orleans police officer is under investigation for shooting Henry Glover outside an Algiers strip mall four days after Hurricane Katrina, the first act in a bizarre chain of events that has led to a massive federal probe into the city’s Police Department. Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Justice has interviewed scores of officers in an effort to determine how the 31-year-old Glover died, as well as whether officers may have tried to cover up his death. Full Story

As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the White House are trying to minimize their differences, a brewing battle at OSHA over a workplace injury reporting rule illustrates how tough that could become given the administration’s pro-labor leanings.

Gardner earned $821,619 in salary in fiscal year 2008, plus a benefit package worth $457,768, according to tax records for Northeast Georgia Health Systems, which owns the Gainesville medical center.

The nearly $1.3 million in total compensation for the CEO was 35 times what the average Hall County resident earned, according to a new report by the Hospital Accountability Project. Hospital officials say that comparison is not fair.… Full Story

William D. Novelli, who resigned as CEO in March 2009, was just one of 18 AARP executives who were paid more than $300,000 in 2008. Tax records show Novelli’s total compensation topped $1 million that year with the inclusion of $207,000 in deferred pay. Novelli’s pay package was a recent topic debate on Capitol Hill, where some congressmen complained that AARP executives would benefit personally from proposed health care reforms. Full Story

UGA President Michael Adams on Thursday defended a $90,000-a-year raise awarded to athletic director Damon Evans. With automatic annual raises and a retention bonus, Evans could earn $3.2 million under the five-year deal. Full Story