Attorneys on both sides of a suit by the former head of the state’s ethics agency proclaimed in opening arguments Tuesday that the trial was about an allegedly retaliatory firing—and not about politics.
But the litigation over Stacey Kalberman’s claims that her probe into campaign spending by Gov. Nathan Deal led to her being forced out of her job is fraught with political overtones. Kalberman’s lawyer, who failed in her bid to subpoena Deal, on Tuesday alleged that Deal’s private attorney, former chief of staff and the former chairman of the ethics commission were all involved in a scheme to replace Kalberman with a new director “hand-picked by the governor’s office” to make the investigation go away.
The name of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich even came up, as Kalberman’s attorney postulated that former commission chairman Patrick Millsaps may have used Deal’s private attorney, Randy Evans, as a conduit to the Gingrich 2012 presidential campaign, where Millsaps became executive director. Evans is also Gingrich’s attorney.
“The evidence will show that ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” said Kalberman’s attorney, Kimberly Worth, a partner of Thrasher, Liss & Smith. She painted her client as a diligent public servant who dared to follow her investigation wherever it went, only to find herself vilified and ultimately unemployed when she stepped on the wrong toes.
The case “is not about whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent,” said Worth. “It’s about right and wrong.”
Not so, countered Assistant Attorney General Bryan Webb, arguing for what is now called the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission and its current director, Holly LaBerge.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear,” Webb told the jury. “The defendant in this case is not the governor, governor’s office or the governor’s counsel.”
While the case may seem complex, Webb said, it is actually about an agency that was hemorrhaging money and the commission’s decision to cut Kalberman’s salary and terminate her deputy in an effort to remain afloat.
via Opening Arguments are Laid out in Ethics Trial | The Daily Report.
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