Atlanta Mayoral candidate, Ceasar Mitchell, faces new ethics complaint
ATLANTA - Now, a major controversy facing one of the top Mayoral candidates in Atlanta.
The State Ethics Commission has filed a new complaint alleging Atlanta City Council president Ceasar Mitchell failed to disclose nearly $300,000 on his city council campaign disclosures.
The Ethics Commission opened an investigation of Mitchell's fundraising in 2016, after a FOX 5 I-Team investigation found Ceasar Mitchell was raising big money with golf tournaments and nationwide private fundraisers, for a PAC he called AtlantaNext.
But, he wasn't reporting how much he raised or where he spent the money. Mitchell told us PAC laws didn't require him to disclose what he did with the money.
During their investigation, the Ethics Commission subpoenaed bank records relating to Mitchell's PAC and his city council president campaign disclosures.
In March of last year, the commission filed a complaint alleging dozens of improper campaign expenditures. Mitchell denied he had done anything wrong.
Now, the I-Team has obtained a copy of the Ethics Commission amended complaint that accuses Mitchell of failing to report more than $250,000 in campaign expenditures, and more than $34,000 in campaign contributions.
The complaint states one of those unreported expenditures was a "$52,992" in payment to his campaign manager "RaZor Consulting/Keisha Carter"
It also states he failed to disclose more than "$205,045" in general campaign expenses.
"With that much money, voters have the right to know how it was spent," says William Perry, founder of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs.
The Ethics Commission also found problems with not only what Mitchell spent, but how much he raised. The complaint alleges Mitchell failed to report $34,028 in campaign contributions.
Mitchell has always contended he followed the law, made some small mistakes, and will be vindicated in the end. He could not be reached for comment.
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