Suspended Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Christian Coomer agreed to a $25,000 fine to settle accusations that he violated the state’s campaign finance laws by, among other things, illegally using contributions to prop up his private law practice and pay for trips to Hawaii and Israel.
The state ethics commission voted Thursday to approve the consent decree signed by Coomer, a former member of the state House. Commission staff said it was the largest fine ever assessed against a Georgia judge in an ethic case.
An ethics complaint filed in 2020 said he made transfers from his former state House campaign account between 2015 and 2019, when his former law firm appeared to need a cash infusion. The filing included copies of bank statements that show many of the transfers made from Coomer’s former campaign account, as well as deposits into his law firm account. Ethics officials called them “short-term loans.”
The complaint also alleged that Coomer failed to disclose those expenditures from his former account on disclosure forms that political candidates and campaign committees are required to file.
Under state law, elected officials can only use campaign contributions to run for election and maintain their office. They can’t use the money for personal expenses unrelated to a campaign or anything that would enrich themselves or their business.
The Israel trip was described as “mixed use” by commission lawyers because Coomer also may have done some official business on the trip.
At the time the complaint was filed, Coomer’s lawyer, Doug Chalmers, called it “a classic example of the commission staff shooting first and asking questions later.”
Coomer’s campaign, law firm and personal banking accounts are held at the same bank, and the wrong account was occasionally accessed when doing transfers online, Chalmers said. “When the error was caught, a reverse transfer was done promptly ... in most cases the same day or within 24 hours,” he said.
On Thursday, Chalmers said Coomer could have fought the complaint but wanted to “take responsibility” for what happened. He said Coomer cooperated with the ethics investigation.
“The judge is pleased we have been able to work out a resolution in this matter,” Chalmers told the commission.
In a statement, Chalmers said, “As the commission confirmed in the settlement agreement, while some mistakes were make years ago in the handling of his House of Representative campaign, the judge has not been personally enriched and he owes no money to the campaign, there were no knowing or willful violations, and the judge self-reported certain transactions.”
David Emadi, the commission’s executive secretary, said: “It’s clear and we believe all of these transactions and transfers of money were intentionally done by Mr. Coomer. That, however, is not an element of the statute that needs to be charged or alleged pursuant to any consent order.”
Coomer has been under criminal investigation involving fraud claims made by a man he represented when he was a private attorney.
Coomer, who once had a Cartersville law practice, was elected to the Legislature in 2010. He was House majority whip in 2018 when then-Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to the Appeals Court.
In March 2020, Jim Filhart, 78, sued Coomer, contending Coomer took advantage of him. In 2018, the lawsuit said, Filhart gave two loans totaling $289,000 to a holding company controlled by Coomer and with terms extremely unfavorable to Filhart.
One of the loans, for $159,000, was to be paid off in 30 years when Filhart would be 106 years old, if he lived that long. Coomer also prepared a will for Filhart that would have given Coomer access to nearly all of Filhart’s estate, the suit said.
After the lawsuit was filed, the GBI began investigating the allegations.
Georgia’s judicial watchdog agency, the Judicial Qualifications Commission, filed ethics charges against Coomer just after Christmas 2020, alleging he violated the code of judicial conduct, as well as campaign finance and lending laws.
Coomer, who strongly denied allegations of fraud, has paid back the loans in full, said Filhart’s lawyer, Wright Gammon. In July 2020, Coomer settled the lawsuit filed by Filhart under terms that remain confidential.
Coomer voluntarily agreed to a suspension from his judicial duties pending a resolution of the JQC proceedings. While he is suspended, the state is paying his salary — he earned $196,000 in 2020 — and paying for another judge to do his job.
