Dear Mike Berlon: keep up the good work

Georgia Democratic Party Chair Mike Berlon has had a stellar week in promoting the electoral success of the Georgia Republican Party.

Over the last week, reports had surfaced that GDP Political Director Rashad Richey has a long criminal record that includes domestic violence incidents.

At first confined to blogs, the issue made its way from the local to the national before making its debut on broadcast television last night.

Berlon for his part responded by demonstrating that the Georgia Democratic Party’s hiring standard is “no felony, no problem.”

There’s an important matter that I need to address. As many of you may know, allegations were recently raised in a local blog suggesting, in whole or in part, that our Political Director, Rashad Richey had been convicted of multiple felonies and other criminal charges in the past and should therefore be immediately terminated by the DPG.

These posts also accuse him of being a recidivist and suggest that he has very low moral character. Unfortunately, some of the allegations contained on these posts include material that I believe could only have come from inside the Democratic Party of Georgia from former employees and/or State Committee members who apparently have their own agenda or axe to grind.

Mr. Richey is not a public figure and it is generally not our policy to comment on internal personnel matters. I can assure you that I take these allegations very seriously and have conducted an exhaustive investigation into all of the facts and have reviewed all of the records. The record is clear and my investigation is complete. Mr. Richey has never been convicted of a felony.

Mr. Richey was a previous employee of the party under the last Administration and cleared our basic background check before he was hired as an employee. Since the time he was employed, there has been no behavior or conduct that would warrant his dismissal. In fact, in my opinion, he is probably one of the best political directors in the country and his work product has been exemplary. I think that those of you have worked with him would likely agree.

In spite of these facts, it is clear that certain individuals continue to push this story. This morning we were contacted by a local television reporter who showed up at the office seeking reaction. They indicated they had received an anonymous e-mail about the situation and wanted a response. You may see that story in the news today or tomorrow. I wanted to make sure you had advance notice of the situation.

Given the current circumstances, we will be conducting a press conference later this week at a time to be determined to address these issues.  At that time, I also expect Mr. Richey’s lawyer to be present to answer questions about any potential legal action, if any, that may be taken against those involved. That matter is between Mr. Richey and his counsel.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I wanted each and every one of you to know the situation.  If you are interested in supporting Mr. Richey at the press conference, or if you have any comments to the contrary or questions of any kind, please let me know.

Respectfully,

Mike Berlon

Chairman
Democratic Party of Georgia

Berlon’s defense of a man who pled guilty to assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a domestic dispute with a former girlfriend highlights the hypocrisy of Georgia Democrats wailing about a Republican “war on women” while protecting someone who pled guilty to violence against a woman because it is politically expedient.

Going from dumb to dumber, Berlon threatens legal action against bloggers who reported the story. This only guarantees that some media whore enterprising blogger will appear in a press conference armed to the teeth with lawyers, prolonging the story. Well played, Mr. Berlon.

If Georgia Democrats were to have any hope of success at the ballot box this year, Mike Berlon is scuttling them. As a Georgia Republican, I say, “keep up the good work.”