State Ethics Commission Adds GRA to PAC Complaint

Back in July I walked through the first complaint the State Ethics Commission filed against the GRA PAC. I also noted the public posture from the Georgia Republican Assembly (GRA) that the PAC was not theirs. That was the line. They claimed the PAC was something “adjacent” or “independent,” but not the GRA’s problem. As if.

That line no longer holds.

The Commission has now filed an amended complaint that adds the Georgia Republican Assembly as a respondent alongside the GRA PAC. Read that again. The GRA itself is now a defendant in the case. After months of the GRA waving away questions about the PAC’s relationship to the organization, the official investigators decided there is enough connective tissue to bring the GRA into the same action.

The underlying issue is whether a political committee was influencing elections without following Georgia’s disclosure and registration rules. If the PAC was acting as an arm of the broader organization, and if funds, decisions, or operations crossed the lines the law sets, then the GRA’s involvement is not a footnote, it is the story.

The Commission’s own framing tells you how seriously they view it. Executive Director David Emadi put it plainly: “These charges represent the results of an ongoing investigation into illegal activity to influence Georgia elections by these organizations.” That is the language of coordination, control, and accountability.

I will repeat what I said in July; the PAC wasn’t some rogue splinter group. It was pitched at official GRA chapter meetings, according to former GRA insider Sam Thomas. And here’s the kicker: the GRA’s official website used to have a dedicated donation page for the PAC. The ties are obvious and now the Commission is checking them.

The amended complaint lays out a long, itemized list of unreported independent expenditures with dates, vendors, and amounts across 2020 through 2024, including Mobilize the Message, American Campaign Services, The Stoneridge Group, Print Source, Minuteman Press, Hazlitt Industries, Landmark Communications, Southern Pines Strategies, and Steadfast USA. These are fresh specifics compared to the earlier high-level allegations.

Further, the amended complaint attaches exhibits that show the GRA corporate filings and the GRA-PAC’s filings, plus sample express-advocacy materials “Paid for by GRA-PAC.” These support the connected-organization theory and document the PAC’s election activity which include political mailers that have the GRA logo and are paid for by the PAC. Kinda hard to make the case they were separate entities.

What it does not do yet is lay out bank records, internal emails, or directives that would prove day-to-day control by specific GRA officers over PAC spending. The Commission is staking out that connection in Paragraph 10 and backing it with corporate records and the PAC’s own materials, while expanding the list of vendors and spends the PAC failed to report.

It will be interesting to see how the GRA responds to being named. Do they keep pretending the PAC is an orphan? Almost certainly. Will they finally answer basic questions about management, fundraising, and decision making? I would bet they will fight against that with everything they have. And since we are engaging in speculation, I would wager that the hypocrisy of not taking accountability for their part and how they benefited from the Frostopus will be on full display, all while they continue to pitch something they call, “the accountability rule.”

This is also a moment for candidates and party committees who benefited from the PAC’s activity to get honest with their voters. If your race saw canvassing, texting, printing, or ad buys that the PAC funded, say so. If you received checks from the Frost network, deal with it now. Do not wait for the Receiver in the First Liberty case to knock. Do not wait for a subpoena. Return the money and post the receipts. Victims come first.

The takeaway is simple. The GRA spent two years telling conservatives the PAC was not really theirs. The State Ethics Commission just said it is close enough to add the GRA to the case. That is a big change. And we will keep reading the filings line by line until every answer is on the record.