RELEASE: Ethics Complaint Filed Against Secretary of State Brian Kemp

Part-time Secretary of State and Full-time Gubernatorial Candidate Brian Kemp Accused of Using Official Secretary of State App to Promote His Campaign’s Social Media Accounts

GEORGIA– Today, DuBose Porter, Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, filed an official ethics complaint accusing Brian Kemp of blatantly misusing state resources to promote his campaign for governor and requesting that the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission conduct an immediate investigation into Brian Kemp and the Kemp Campaign for Governor.

This action comes following news reports that Brian Kemp used his official capacity as Secretary of State to promote his campaign website and social media through the official Secretary of State app, “GA SOS,” which is paid for using taxpayer funds. This represents a clear violation of state law, as it is illegal for a public agency such as a Secretary of State’s Office to make contributions to a political campaign or candidate.

Additionally around 6:10 PM on the night of July 31st, it was first reported that the Kemp campaign agreed to remove the link from the app. However as of 1:02 pm on August 1st, nearly 19 hours later, the links on the Secretary of State App were still present, as indicated by the screenshot below:

These ethical, legal, and moral issues raise critical questions that must be answered by the Secretary of State’s office and the Brian Kemp for Governor campaign:

• If Brian Kemp is willing to ignore the law like this, in what other ways is he willing to abuse his authority as SoS?
• In what other ways is he using the office to promote his own campaign and further his political ambitions?
• This issue was raised in 2017. Why did Brian Kemp take no corrective action at that time?

“Brian Kemp’s willingness to use taxpayer dollars for his own political gain raises serious ethical questions and reveals his disregard for Georgia voters and Georgia law,” said Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter. “Georgia families can’t put their trust in a leader who won’t put their interests above his own. This is a flat-out abuse and careless use of his office.”
The complaint with appendices that was sent today can be downloaded here (12 page PDF).

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