The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ex-candidate for governor turns self in
State Sen. Williams has been charged with insurance fraud, more.
Michael Williams, a state senator and former Republican gubernatorial candidate, turned himself in to the Hall County Jail on Wednesday, days after news broke that he had been indicted on charges that included insurance fraud.
Williams’ attorney, A.J. Richman, said he negotiated bond with the district attorney and that his client will be “out soon.”
“Senator Williams looks forward to his day in court, and I will vigorously defend him,” Richman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The charges against the Forsyth County Republican, which also include making false statements and making a false report of a crime, stem from a May incident in which Williams reported his Gainesville campaign office was burglarized. At the time, Williams’ campaign manager said $300,000 worth of computer servers that were being used to mine cryptocurrency had been taken from the building.
Williams, who will likely remain in office until mid-January, is accused of lying to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent when he said he was at home in Forsyth County, not in the Gainesville area, at the time of the purported burglary. The indictment, which doesn’t say what allegedly happened to the servers, accuses Williams of making a false insurance claim.
Richman said an indictment “is not evidence of anything.”
“It is a one-sided story presented to a group of people, with the accused being unable to respond,” he said.
Seth Weathers, Williams’ ex-campaign manager, called the charges a “political witch hunt” last week and said they lacked merit. Richman previously made clear that Weathers’ comments did “not reflect my team’s position.”
Williams came in fifth place among the five major candidates in the Republican gubernatorial primary in May. He waged a controversial campaign that featured several attention-grabbing stunts, his final being a “deportation bus tour” that called for filling the vehicle with people in the U.S. illegally. It broke down when he took it on a trip through North Georgia just days before the primary.
He frequently highlighted his status as the first state official to endorse Donald Trump for president, and he wasn’t afraid to pick fights with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, then the front-runner in the gubernatorial race.
Williams will likely remain a sitting member of the Georgia Senate until Jan. 14, when he’ll be succeeded by Republican Greg Dolezal. The body could reconvene to vote to expel Williams, but that is considered unlikely.