About a week and a half ago, I virtually attended a preliminary hearing held by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission regarding an ethics complaint I had filed last year against State Representative Erica Thomas, Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, outlining numerous abuses and violations of the Ethics in Government Act.

We all remember what happened last June when Rep. Thomas falsely claimed she had been a victim of racial animosity at a Publix supermarket in her district. The incident gained national attention as an example of the type of hostile environment towards minorities President Trump was supposedly creating in America and the left was all too eager to buy into Thomas’s hate hoax. Thomas, for her part, wasted no time getting out the fundraising emails begging for money to continue her fight against the obviously racist, anti-immigrant, Trump supporter who not only “made her fear for her life,” but also told her to “go back to where she came from.”

A couple of days (and press conferences) later, the man who spoke up to her because she had too many items in the express checkout line came forward. Instead of the towering ogre Thomas had described, the man was shorter than her, an immigrant from Cuba, and a Democrat. Video showed it was Thomas who actually told the Cuban-American to “go back to where you came from.”

Whoops.

However, I had wondered what kind of campaign bump the incident had given Thomas, so, once her June 30 disclosure was filed, I pulled it up on the Commission’s webpage.

Shockingly, according to her campaign finance disclosure, she had raised NOTHING. And when I say nothing, she reported she had not raised any funds at all during the reporting period. What is more, she showed no expenses and had no money in her campaign account.

Digging deeper, I found fundraisers she had with the invitations posted on her Facebook page, including a joint fundraiser with House Minority Whip William Boddie on January 10, 2019, just before the start of the 2019 Legislative Session where Thomas asked donors to contribute up to $2,600 to host and at least $101 to attend, but nothing was reported. Trying to go back to other disclosures, I found a number of them had not even been filed where she skipped reporting periods completely!

Nearly a year after filing the complaint, an investigation by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission detailed how Thomas allegedly has repeatedly failed to file campaign disclosure reports, repeatedly failed to detail her contributions and expenditures by failing to report a single dollar in contributions or expenditures on reports she has filed, and repeatedly failed to file personal financial disclosure statements.

This is even though, as the Commission's staff attorney shows in her report below, the filed campaign disclosures of other PACs and elected officials show Thomas has received at least $16,300.

In showing her contempt for the the Commission, Erica Thomas did not respond to the allegations, did not show up for the hearing, nor did she send a representative. The Commissioners voted to continue with the investigation after the preliminary hearing.

This is public corruption by a high-ranking member of the leadership of the Georgia House of Representatives and shame on Georgia’s and Cobb County’s Democrats for remaining silent in support.

Shameful.

Thomas is being challenged in the November Election by businessman, West Point graduate, and retired US Army Colonel Jim Hickey. Voters will have a real choice between a leader with the highest integrity in Col. Hickey or continue to be represented by someone who hides who is financing their campaign and what those campaign dollars are being spent on.

Just like her #HateHoax in June 2019, Erica Thomas is being blatantly dishonest and is deceiving her constituents and the people of Georgia.

It is hard to tell if her violations rise to the level of criminal activity, or if she is using campaign funds to support herself personally, but a full investigation may show just that.

It is time Erica Thomas stop her deceptions and left public office. Clearly, she belongs in no position of trust and it is time the Democrats, who always seem to find excuses and turn a blind eye to their own corruption, stood up against Thomas too. But the continued silence of the House Democratic Caucus screams their support for Thomas.

Not a single Cobb County Democrat has condemned Thomas's repeated and continuing pattern of deception after deception, but continue to support her as a leader of their Party.

Think about that for a minute when people say we need to put the Democrats in charge of our county, state, and nation.

Of course, this is the same Democratic Party, as I pointed out last week, that openly fantasized about Cobb Republicans dying of COVID-19, so we probably shouldn't hold our breath waiting for them to speak out.

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party