Georgia Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock may have run afoul of federal campaign finance laws.
At issue is Warnock’s use of campaign funds to pay for attorneys to represent him in a lawsuit filed against Warnock by an Atlanta man, according to a story today in Politico. Warnock’s campaign contends that since he was serving in the Senate when the 2021 lawsuit was filed, and because Warnock was served at his Atlanta Senate office, the expenditure is legal.
Others are not so sure. Because the lawsuit, which Politico calls “baffling and seemingly baseless,” pertains to Warnock’s work as pastor of Atlanta’s storied Ebenezer Baptist Church, some election law specialists say that using campaign funds to fight the lawsuit is not allowed, because it doesn’t involve Warnock’s role as an elected official.
