Georgia’s campaign finance watchdog is stepping down

Emadi and his defenders say he has pursued Republican and Democratic politicians without regard to politics.

“I think we have rehabilitated and brought credibility to the agency,” Emadi said in an interview this week. “I think there’s an understanding in the political landscape that if you try and do something intentionally wrong to circumvent the law, we’re going to get you for it.”

The State Ethics Commission is responsible for enforcing Georgia political campaign and lobbying laws. The state requires candidates, political parties and others who seek to influence elections to register and disclose their donors and expenditures. It also requires lobbyists to disclose their clients and the money they spend to influence state and local officials.

The agency publishes those reports on its website. The idea is to give Georgians information about who is seeking to influence their government.

When Emadi arrived, the agency was mired in scandal. Employees had accused the previous executive director of viewing pornography at work and recommending they not pursue campaign finance cases. The director resigned.

Emadi was a former Douglas County prosecutor who sought to set a different tone. He said he wanted the ethics commission to hold people accountable but not be a “gotcha” agency that would “nickel and dime you.”

One of his first actions was to investigate Abrams’ committee. Emadi subpoenaed bank records for her unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign and for groups that sought to get her elected.

The investigation drew fierce criticism from Abrams and her supporters. They accused Emadi — a former local Republican Party officer who had given $600 to Brian Kemp’s successful campaign — of conducting a politically motivated investigation.

That investigation took years. The agency brought no charges against Abrams. But last year a group she founded admitted to spending millions of dollars to support her 2018 campaign without registering with the commission or disclosing its activities. The group and an affiliate agreed to pay $300,000, the largest fine ever assessed for violating Georgia campaign finance laws.

A spokesman for Abrams did not respond to a request for comment about Emadi’s tenure.

Under Emadi, the commission also has targeted high-profile Republicans. Most recently, it charged the Georgia Republican Assembly and its affiliated political action committee with dozens of violations, including failing to disclose more than $180,000 of campaign contributions as they rose to become dominant forces in state Republican politics. The case is still pending.

“We have taken on very significant cases against Republicans and Democrats,” Emadi said. “And we’ve proven that, when we’ve made the accusations, they’ve been true.”

Under Emadi, the commission has replaced the state’s campaign finance and lobbying reporting system. The old one, launched early in Emadi’s tenure, was generally considered unusable for the public and candidates alike.

Emadi also successfully lobbied the General Assembly for a simplified reporting schedule, which took effect this year.

Rick Thompson, vice chair of the State Ethics Commission and a former director of the agency, credits Emadi with eliminating a backlog of cases, stabilizing the agency, reducing staff turnover and hiring good people.

“The ethics commission was in complete chaos before he came,” Thompson said. “That’s saying it nicely.”

Among the people Emadi hired was Knittel, another former prosecutor. He joined the commission as senior staff attorney in 2022 and was promoted to deputy executive director two years ago. The commission voted unanimously to name him as Emadi’s replacement last week.

Knittel faces his own challenges leading an agency with a $3.5 million budget and about 20 employees. Beginning next year, candidates for local office must file disclosure reports with the state instead of with local election officials. Knittel will oversee the addition of thousands of local candidates to the state system.

Knittel said he also hopes to provide stability to the office.

“I just want to make sure this office continues to run very well,” he said.

Knittell will report to the five-member commission. Three of its members are appointed by the governor, with one each appointed by the state House speaker and the Senate committee on assignments.