Ceasar Mitchell wants Ethics complaint dismissed

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Mayoral Hopeful Ceasar Mitchell wants the State Ethics complaint against him dismissed.

In a response to the campaign finance complaint, the Atlanta City council President denied most of the charges, and said other campaign finance violations were mistakes.

The Ethics commission complaint against Mitchell and his leadership PAC, AtlantaNEXT, followed a FOX 5 I-Team investigation that showed the PAC raised big money with golf tournaments and nationwide private fundraisers, but not reporting the money it raised or spent.

Mitchell told us back in February his PAC was exempt from reporting because it hadn't reached the $25,000 spending threshold set by state law.  But the commission disagreed, charging AtlantaNEXT should have disclosed its income and expenses.

The complaint also alleges Mitchell accepted speaker fees in excess of state limits, and improperly spent campaign funds on personal reimbursements, dues, newspaper subscriptions, and Falcon tickets.

In his response, Mitchell argued all the expenditures - including the Falcon tickets - were allowed by campaign laws.

Mitchell stated his speaking fees, like $2500 from Atlanta Metropolitan State College or $500 from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church didn't violate the $100 limit - because the speeches weren't related to his City Council President role.

He offered affidavits from people who paid him calling the payments "a standardized expense" or "a love offering" and unrelated to his council presidency.

Government watchdog, William Perry, told us: "If Mr. Mitchell can convince the commission, convince the voters that those speeches weren't part of his city council president, then fine. But, I think probably it's not a good idea."

Perry says Mr. Mitchell's response seems reasonable, but he is concerned that Mitchell's leadership PAC may not be following the spirit of the law by no reporting contributions and expenses.

"This is the exact problem using PAC to do these things and running for public office," says Perry. "It’s too messy, it’s not clean, people don't trust it."