An $8M mystery triggers growing fight over dark money in Georgia politics

The latest front opened Friday, when Jones’ campaign urged the Federal Communications Commission to step in. The Donald Trump-endorsed Republican argues that since the ads deal with “political matters of national importance” they should have triggered strict federal disclosure rules. It seeks to force the group to abandon its anonymity or pull the spots.

It’s the newest salvo against a group that has become nearly inescapable to many Georgians this holiday season, blanketing airwaves, mailboxes and smartphones with ads, mailers and texts accusing Jones of using his office for personal gain.

A few weeks ago, the Georgia GOP filed an ethics complaint trying to force the group to register under state laws and disclose its donors. And the Jones campaign has demanded TV stations to pull the spot from on-air rotations.

So far, no one tied to the group is talking. Not Alex Roberts, a media buyer in Utah contacted weeks ago by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Not Kimberly Land, an Ohio attorney credited with incorporating the organization. Not Tom Kirkland, who is mentioned in paperwork but some GOP operatives say may not exist. And not James Tyrrell III, a Washington-based lawyer who represents the group.

Tyrrell did, however, respond to demands from Jones’ campaign to pull the ads. He said the effort by the lieutenant governor sought to “halt a healthy discussion about his record by cutting off his critics’ access to the airwaves.”

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

Jones’ top GOP rivals — Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — swear they’re not involved. So have top Democrats. Leaders in both parties say they’re baffled by the group’s origins.

“I don’t know if we’ve seen any group spend so much, so early, going after one candidate,” said Buzz Brockway, a former GOP state legislator and conservative commentator. “It’s really shaking things up.”

“It can’t be one of his opponents. They would have owned up to it by now,” he added. “Who has this much of a gripe against the lieutenant governor and this deep of a bank account? There’s only so many people or groups it could be.”

Whoever is financing the blitz has threaded the needle carefully — avoiding explicit references to the 2026 race or Jones’ candidacy to sidestep disclosure rules.

Instead, the 30-second ads, mailers and text messages ask Georgians to demand that Jones “stop profiting off taxpayers.”

Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon is among the Republicans infuriated by the temerity of the group, which he said has “zero integrity.”

“It is thumbing its nose at Georgia law by funneling millions in shadowy dark money to smear one of our Republican candidates for governor and suppress Republican votes,” he said. “All while keeping donors hidden from Georgia voters — who have the right to know the agenda behind this multimillion dollar campaign.”

A guessing game

A third TV volley launched this week has only ratcheted up the mystery. But this is more than a mere guessing game.

The barrage offers a glimpse of the anonymous dark money warfare seeking to define the race — much like the torrent of spending by secretive groups has reshaped federal contests since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowed corporations and unions to raise and spend unlimited sums on elections.

It’s also putting Jones on the defensive at a time when he’s an uneasy front-runner in the race. With $14 million in his campaign coffers and Trump’s early endorsement, he’s long been viewed as the Republican to beat. But polls, including an AJC survey of likely GOP voters, show most Republicans still haven’t made up their minds.

Jones has built his financial edge with the help of a $10 million personal loan and a leadership committee that allows him to raise unlimited sums.

Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

That fundraising vehicle is itself tied up in long-running legal fights, including a recent lawsuit from Raffensperger seeking to “level up” and extend the same advantage to all candidates for governor. Outside groups, meanwhile, routinely mount multimillion-dollar ad campaigns in Georgia, but those funds require a degree of disclosure.

Donors to leadership committees are listed publicly, and spending by other outside groups often requires them to register with state and federal elections officials. Georgians for Integrity, however, is part of a growing subset of groups that operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit chartered in Delaware — a structure that keeps its backers secret.

Jones’ campaign has launched its own sleuthing effort to uncover who is bankrolling the blitz, but still hasn’t deduced the source of the ads. They blame “political consultants” who would rather see Raffensperger in the Governor’s Mansion.

“While the individuals funding this effort and the consultants fleecing them will be made public, we remain focused on doing something Brad Raffensperger has never cared much about — beating the Democrats in November,” Jones aide Loree Anne Paradise said.