ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Ethics Commission says a political action committee linked to what federal investigators have called a Ponzi scheme illegally sought to influence elections.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, says the spending came from the now-dissolved Georgia Republican Assembly PAC between 2021 and 2024.
The committee was headed by Edwin Brant Frost V, the son of a man named in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit as heading a scheme that took at least $140 million from hundreds of investors. A company named First Liberty Building & Loan promised investors big returns from making high-interest loans to businesses with short-term cash needs, but the SEC complaint says Edwin Brant Frost IV skimmed $17 million for himself, his relatives and their affiliated companies.
More than $1 million of that went to political spending that entrenched the Frost family's influence in Republican politics in Georgia, Alabama, Maine and other states, investigators said. But while much is disclosed in campaign contributions, Wednesday's filing raises questions about whether the Frosts were spending on politics in undisclosed ways.
The complaint says the PAC could legally give to candidates, but it never registered as an independent committee to directly advocate for and against candidates while spending more than $220,000 to do so.
“The ethics complaint filed today represent our initial charges against the Georgia Republican Assembly-PAC,” Ethics Commission Executive Director David Emadi said in a statement. “Our investigation remains ongoing and additional charges may be coming at a future date, but we intend to aggressively pursue all violations of Georgia law committed by the GRA which illegally influenced elections in 2022 and 2024.”
State Rep. Dale Washburn said undisclosed spending is pernicious. The Macon Republican was attacked in a 2022 mailing cited in the complaint,
“The whole dark money thing, where you can attack a candidate with a name that really doesn’t represent who is behind the attack, I think that is a problem and it should be addressed," Washburn said.
No criminal charges have been announced in the alleged financial fraud. Brant Frost V wasn't named in the civil lawsuit filed by the SEC. However, the SEC in a subpoena filed last week sought information about activities of Brant Frost V as a First Liberty employee. The younger Frost made appearances on conservative talk shows promoting First Liberty, and some investors said they dealt with Brant Frost V when putting money into First Liberty.
The younger Frost also garnered attention when he incorporated a new lending firm — Heartland Capital LLC. Brant Frost V filed the incorporation papers on June 26, the day before First Liberty announced it had gone bust.
Brant Frost V didn't immediately respond to an email and a text message Wednesday. A lawyer for Brant Frost IV didn't respond to an email.
Conflict with another political group
The PAC shared a name with the Georgia Republican Assembly, a group that seeks to push the Republican Party further to the right. The assembly often endorsed and the PAC often contributed to insurgent Republicans who opposed established GOP leaders. But assembly President Nathaniel Darnell said that while the GRA authorized and promoted the PAC, it was a “totally separate entity.”
“The entire time the PAC was in operation, the Frosts controlled it with zero oversight from the GRA organization," said Darnell, who said he personally lost an unspecified amount of money invested in First Liberty.
The Frosts had a falling-out with the GRA following this year's state Republican convention. They and other supporters of Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon publicly resigned after the GRA expelled Katie Frost, the sister of Brant Frost V. Katie Frost led a nominating committee that recommended delegates vote against a number of GRA-endorsed party officer candidates.
Campaign disclosures show the Frosts and associated companies donated a majority of the PAC's money. One focus was supporting Republican challengers who opposed late state House Speaker David Ralston, whom the GRA viewed as a corrupt moderate. But the complaint shows the PAC also didn't disclose spending in school board races in Coweta County, where the Frosts live, and in a county commissioner race in neighboring Meriwether County.
Washburn said he believed he was targeted over his support for Ralston and for a bill that would have allowed some immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Georgia universities and colleges.
“I was kind of taken aback by those mailers when they happened and was honestly angered by them because I thought they were very deceitful and misrepresented some things,” he said.
Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
