Ethics Panel Says it Will Pursue Ex-Insurance Commissioner

ATLANTA (AP)–Georgia ethics officials say they will pursue allegations of wrongdoing against former state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, overriding an administrative law judge’s ruling that they waited too long.

Oxendine is accused of illegally using campaign funds from his failed 2010 gubernatorial campaign to buy a house and lease cars.

The state ethics commission voted to reject Judge Ronit Walker’s decision that it didn’t pursue the allegations fast enough, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. However, commissioners accepted the judge’s decision that the commission can’t pursue Oxendine for accepting $120,000 in bundled contributions–10 times what was then the legal limit–from two Georgia insurance companies in 2008 when he was running for governor.

Walker found last year that state law only covers penalties for donors when they bundle contributions, not recipients.

The ethics complaint against the insurers was dismissed in 2014 because commission staff had made little progress. Charges remained against Oxendine, who was elected insurance commissioner four times before losing his gubernatorial bid.

Walker ruled to throw out all the remaining ethics charges against Oxendine, but state law allows the agency, officially known as the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, to override the decision. The commission will hold a hearing on charges involving spending from Oxendine’s campaign funds, decide if he violated the law, and possibly penalize him.

“The bottom line is John Oxendine took campaign money and used it to pay the down payment on his house, pay for membership dues at a private country club, and pay for the lease on his vehicle among other things,” commission Executive Secretary David Emadi said.

Oxendine has called the cases a “waste of taxpayer money,” and his lawyer, Doug Chalmers, told the commission, “This has been a moving target from day one.”

The Journal-Constitution reported in 2016 that Oxendine kept $500,000 in leftover money from his gubernatorial campaign, and kept contributions raised for a possible Republican runoff and general election that he never ran in after losing the Republican primary.

Oxendine filed new reports in October 2015 showing more than $700,000 left over, including $237,000 in loans to his law firm.

The ethics commission said Oxendine used part of those loans to make a $96,500 down payment on a house. The rest went to lease a Mercedes and Jaguar, retirement account contributions and athletic club dues, officials said.

It’s illegal in Georgia for a candidate to use campaign contributions for personal expenses unrelated to a campaign. Chalmers argued in 2019 that loans are permitted.

Ethics officials said Oxendine never mentioned a loan on his campaign reports before the newspaper’s report and had no intention of repaying the money before he was exposed.

Oxendine had $254,000 remaining in the account after paying Chalmers about $200,000 to defend him.