Judge Declares GRA Innocent of Baseless Ethics Complaint
Atlanta, GA — Today, Judge Dominic Capraro at the State Office of Administrative Hearings released a decision that all allegations that the Georgia Republican Assembly and GRA-PAC broke the law are unfounded. Both organizations are innocent of the ethics commission’s frivolous complaint.
The decision stated: “In accordance with the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, the Court finds that the Respondents are not in violation of the Act as alleged in the Commission’s Statement of Matters Asserted and, therefore, no sanction is due.”
GRA Chairman Alex Johnson, who is also an attorney, stated: ”It is standard practice for the paid political industry and spineless politicians to try to silence effective volunteers that are trying to hold them accountable. We are glad Judge Capraro was able to see through this and reach the correct outcome in this matter.”
On May 13th, Georgia Republican Assembly NFRA Director & attorney Catherine Bernard represented the GRA in the hearing for the complaint against the now terminated GRA-PAC. The State Ethics Commission previously added the GRA Inc., the membership organization, to the complaint suggesting that the membership organization was one-in-the-same with the GRA-PAC which is not true.
Timothy Baywal, staff attorney for the Georgia Ethics Commission, was the primary witness and after Bernard’s brilliant cross-examination, he had to walk back his position from last December and thoroughly contradicted the legacy media’s narrative.
“It was never my position that they were trying to pump dark money into elections,” Baywall testified under oath.
“I don’t think anybody was trying to do anything illegal or unlawful,” said Baywall.
Baywall admitted on the witness stand that GRA-PAC’s expenditures were in fact disclosed to the State Ethics Commission.
“All of these were disclosed in GRA-PAC filings. I was never claiming they weren’t disclosed. They were disclosed improperly,” said Baywall.
The Judge’s decision reveals that expenditures of the GRA PAC were not disclosed improperly, as Baywall alleged, because the statutory definition of an independent committee is an entity which is explicitly “not a Political Action Committee” (O.C.G.A. § 21-5-3(15) (2025)). Judge Capraro found that, since both entities “do not meet the definition of an independent committee, they cannot be considered to be in violation of Georgia Code Section 21-5-34(f), and no sanction is authorized.”
This is a huge vindication for the GRA and will come as a massive disappointment to the Establishment operatives in the GOP who thought they smelled blood in the water. An AJC reporter attended only a portion of the hearing, and it is likely this vindication of the GRA will be entirely ignored by the far-left news media who care more about spreading propaganda and casting shade on conservative groups than reporting the truth or correcting their previous articles.
Attorney General Chris Carr, one of the politicians in the Atlanta swamp that GRA members frequently criticize for his inaction on important issues, formally called for the hearing against the GRA and put out a press release before the primary smearing the GRA with allegations that are now proven to be unsubstantiated.
The attorney arguing against the GRA was Elizabeth Young, who works for Carr at the Georgia Department of Law, and who recently represented out-going Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the electoral challenge to his candidacy for Governor.
“We thank the judge for his clear-eyed ruling in this case – a ruling that proves that this case was nothing but a blatant attempt at lawfare against the GRA from the very beginning,” said Dr. Nick Cooper, GRA 1st Vice President. “We’ve shown the political establishment that if they try to intimidate us into silence, we will not back down and capitulate. We will always stand on our principles, and our principles are uncompromising.”
The GRA-PAC dissolved last summer. As long as the GRA PAC was supporting principled, candidates with backbone like Sen. Colton Moore (R-Dade), State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee), and others, the affiliation and support was mutual. The GRA supports numerous organizations with which we have common cause through our newsletters, social media, event sponsorships, and donations.
But the two organizations always maintained separate bank accounts and governance, and it is important to note that while the membership organization previously donated to the GRA-PAC, the GRA-PAC did not donate to the membership organization.
The GRA has not hesitated to call this complaint against them political harassment ever since the five-member body of the State Ethics Commission which employees Baywal and which referred this complaint for a hearing includes three members appointed by the Governor, one appointed by the State Senate Committee on Assignments, and one appointed by the State Speaker of the House. These appointees are ultimately beholden to the very political Establishment that GRA members frequently expose and are working to replace.
One of the facts revealed in Mr. Baywall’s testimony was that former Cobb GOP Chairman, Jason Shepherd, who was the attorney that originally helped incorporate the GRA-PAC, visited Baywall’s office to meet with him about the complaint against the GRA and that Shepherd had submitted emails as “evidence” to bait the Ethics Commission with the complaint. He also made statements to the media parroting Baywall’s allegations against his former client — the GRA-PAC and suggesting wrongdoing on part of the GRA.
We are grateful that, in spite of relentless attacks and smear attempts, the members of the Georgia Republican Assembly can continue our important mission and protect Georgia families from the harmful policies of Democrats — and Democrats disguised as Republicans. We remain the “Republican wing of the Republican Party.”
