Former Top Paul Broun Staffer Indicted On Eight Counts
The Department of Justice indicted David Bowser, the former chief of staff for then-Representative Paul Broun, with one count of obstruction of proceedings, one count theft of government property, one count of concealment of material facts, and five counts of making false statements in connection to the congressional ethics investigation into Broun’s misuse of taxpayer dollars.
Broun’s campaign in the 9th Congressional District raised concerns his ethics investigation, which closed when he left Congress after losing the 2014 senatorial Republican primary, could be reopened if he beat incumbent Representative Doug Collins.
The alleged ethics violation occurred when Broun’s congressional office paid Brett O’Donnell $2,500 a month to sharpen Broun’s communication skills for floor speeches. O’Donnell received a total of $43,750 from Broun’s office for services provided from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, O’Donnell pleaded guilty to lying to investigators.
Bowser claims O’Donnell exclusively worked on congressional matters, yet in the guilty plea, Bowser is quoted as saying the Office of Congressional Ethics can go “f—- themselves.” O’Donnell also claimed Bowser asked him to maintain he is a volunteer debate coach for Broun’s campaign.
In response to the indictment, Broun said he is “disappointed” about Bowser’s indictment and that he was “not aware of any ethics violations by my staff at any time.”
“All roads in this criminal case lead back to Paul Broun. When is he going to take responsibility for abusing taxpayers hard earned money?” said Doug Collins Campaign Manager Carmen Foskey.
About Author
Will Kremer
Will is an active member of the Georgia Republican grassroots. He previously served as Chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, 2nd Vice Chairman of the 7th District Republican Party, and Treasurer of the Forsyth County Republican Party. Promise Land = Forsyth County.
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I can’t figure how Doc Broun intends to overcome this. Isn’t Doug Collins pretty popular in his district? Hasn’t he, except for the Boehner show vote, been a pretty good congressman? This whole thing is weird.
Tea Party.
I’m baffled, too. My only guess is a consultant saw dollar signs above Broun’s head and appealed to his desire for power. While Broun isn’t popular with many elected officials, he has figured out the prophet-for-profit game. I assume Collins win win 65-35.
Omnibus vote. Among other big government votes that are unpopular is where it will head. If you can portray your opponent as “establishment” anything can happen. Plus there are like 4 people running and a runoff is likely.
Broun can scream “establishment” until he’s blue in the face, but nothing says establishment like using taxpayer funds to pay for campaign staff, belonging to the politician class for years, creating a PAC to stay in the political game after losing an election, and running in a district you’ve never lived in just to return to a comfy DC job. Sure, Collins is elected, but Broun oozes establishment. Voting “no” 90 percent of the time doesn’t make you less establishment, it makes you an obstruction. Collins can communicate that with ease.
Like I said, there’s other choices available to people besides Broun and Collins, and they are campaigning the same way in the race. They’re hitting him by saying he funding planned parenthood, amnesty, Obamacare, and for voting for the Dark act among other things. I was just saying what I’ve seen and heard. I don’t know how it will play out. Remember, people are voting for Trump and Sanders in record numbers. A lot of the normal political rules don’t seem to apply.
As one of Collins’ constituents, I wondered the same. Seems pretty well liked for the most part. I just don’t see evidence of an overwhelming Tea Party, anti-establishment presence that it seems Broun is pursuing in the district (at least not in my county of residence).
Collins can’t win by only talking about Braun’s ethics and avoiding candidate forums. As mentioned above he voted in late 2015 for the spending bill and he also voted for Boehner twice. Collins has not successfully addressed these issues.
As for the other candidates, Roger Fitzpatrick is known from his previous run. Mike Scupin has been out campaigning in the district. Have not heard much from Bernie Fontaine just yet. With four candidates running against Collins this race will likely go to a runoff.
Congressman Broun represented the district our farm was located in [Wilkes County near Clarke’s Hill, er I mean Thurmond Lake] and I can verify he represented the 10th Congressional District well. I’ve been to a lot of town hall meetings the last 4 decades including two of Broun’s in the old Thompson train depot to ask questions and to hear his thoughts. Broun ALWAYS answered questions of his constituents and those of us non-voters in his district straightforward…he did not sugar coat his answers nor coach his answers to pacify a constituent. Friends and family living in the 10th District have expressed ‘buyers remorse’ that Broun is no longer representing them because they feel as my Wife and I do.
I called an old friend earlier this week that lives in the 10th Congressional District; my friend has been a party chairman for years in that district. I asked my friend what he really thinks of Broun in retrospect as Broun is now running against Collins. The gist is he thought and still believes Paul Broun was good for the district and that Broun focused on the people of the district. The local Republican Party Chair told me he feels if Paul Broun was running in the district now most of the local republican party people would turn out to get Broun re-elected. That is a pretty strong endorsement. For the readers to this point – I would suggest you ask individuals that were represented by Paul Broun how he did as their representative. Some disliked Broun, but I can tell you without hesitation that the majority of his constituents in Washington, upper Evans, Lincolnton, Thompson, etc. liked the job Broun did representing us. In the years he was the Congressman representing the area where our farm was located I never saw Paul Broun vote in Congress or introduce as legislation the age of the earth, or the Bible thumping that is seen on the pages of Peach Pundit or Georgia Pol. We saw in action a different Paul Broun than one presented by the writers in Peach Pundit and Georgia Pol. I saw Broun investigate real issues like the non-competitive bidding of timber harvesting on Corp property and how much of the money was returned to public coffers [think the timber value of millions of acres of pine trees harvested on Corp property], the impact of hydrilla on navigable waters [impact on the Port of Augusta. the Savannah River, & the Flint River basin], supporting welfare reform, and a whole host of other issues. One of the questions I asked Congressman Broun in a town hall regarded the federal portion of funding that was required to make the old TSPLOST scheme work. Broun told me Congress would not and could not appropriate the funding that was in the TSPLOST vote to build the roads around Atlanta [TSPLOST had a huge federal funding component and was not just local dollars according to the Regional Documents published]…again, Broun honestly said what was not politically happy talk when we asked him questions. The issues he did pursue mattered to his constituents even if he is now considered not to be a ‘good republican’ by the present fractured party based around Atlanta.
We live in the 9th District and told Congressman Collins that we applauded his statements in committee and from his office regarding PP aborting living humans, and then the cutting up to harvest human body parts. His views on PP are supported here in Gilmer County. However, Congressman Collins voted to fully fund PP in the last budget. When we asked Congressman Collins why he excoriate PP and then vote to fund PP – his response was the party line of ‘clearing the agenda’ to allow Speaker Ryan a clear path beyond Boehner. I don’t believe there are enough of us paying attention in the 9th to change anything – but Doug Collins actions showed my Wife & me that Congressman Collins is more of a team party member than representing the core beliefs in the 9th Congressional District. And yes, we are angry that he voted for Boehner as Speaker when it is clear to the people of the district that change was required. I for one believe Broun would have voted against Boehner the last time Boehner ran for speaker and contrast that with Collins vote.
I like Doug Collins as a good man even when we diverged on two important issues. I like Paul Broun and believe he has some weird beliefs – but Broun consistently voted according to what he told us he was going to do, and never let his weird beliefs be front and center in his Congressional votes as some writers would like the readers to believe. Broun may be brought down by the ethics complaints before this is over, but I have followed ethics complaints in Georgia and in Congress for long enough to know MOST ethics complaints are rooted in politics dictated by the reigning party in power to maintain that power.
We look forward to watching this race unfold in our district, but dread the junk the republican party factions [the epitome of a ‘house divided’] will sling at each warring faction.
To paraphrase my namesake, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time but you can sure fool enough of them to win an election.
“Friends and family living in the 10th District have expressed ‘buyers remorse’ that Broun is no longer representing them”
Not all of us in the 10th feel that way. Jody Hice has surprised me with his ability to keep his extreme views pretty much to himself, something Broun was incapable of. Hice is still a dangerous ideologue and an empty suit who’s a safe vote for the most obstructive faction in the House, but he’s not unbalanced.
PM, I get it. I voted for him every time he ran as my district’s congressman, from 2007 onward, and in his campaign for Senate. He was a member of my church, my physician as a teenager, a family friend. I have taken plenty of heat on PP, GP and The Flagpole for defending his actions in Congress. I will not speak of the accusations against his congressional office dealings. Indictments and sentences of guilty speak for themselves. I am sure Dr. Broun kicks himself everyday for letting anything unethical go on in his office. I just don’t see how he has a path forward in the 9th district.
Agree regarding the 9th District not being a viable path. In honesty – we have not decided which candidate we will support.
I also doubt the folks that trash Paul Broun on these pages have sat down 1 on 1 with him to discuss specific legislative concerns. Their loss as they would find a contrast to the other Georgia Congressmen that weigh questions with their re-election plans. Broun’s directness answering my questions was always appreciated and contrasted with any other elected official or candidate.
I also doubt the folks that trash Paul Broun are aware that in 2010 Dr. Broun [past age 60] re-entered the military through the Naval Reserve Medical Corp and as a LCDR Broun volunteered for Afghanistan. In 2012 Broun was sent to serve in Helmand Prov., Afghanistan as a surgeon supporting the USMC. Broun has not, to my knowledge, made much ado about his surgery work at Camp Leatherneck. I was told about his service by a friend in Watkinsville a couple of years ago – then researched to verify the information. Dr. Broun’s service is stated not as a detraction of Chaplin Doug Collins that served in Iraq in 2008 – both are good men. I doubt the folks reading the comments know of the good things both of these men have accomplished because the party faithful are too busy maintaining the status quo to post beyond Broun’s beliefs regarding “the Big Bang theory”.
I’ve noted your “heat” and appreciate your willingness to take a bullet from the party firing squad. The party is inclusive as long as you agree with the party and send in your campaign donations. I withdrew from the party years ago after seeing behind the financial curtain of the party. Good luck to you.
I sat down with Broun to discuss specific policies issues when he was representing the 10th and again when he ran for the senate. The guy’s votes match his rhetoric, but I find issue in his votes. Then again, he’s not my congressman; I’m blessed with Congressman Woodall.
Latest email from the good doctor: “They’re coming for our guns”…
“But really, the Second Amendment protects all of our God-given rights. That’s why it’s such a big target for Democrats and Establishment Republicans — and why it must be protected at all costs.”
Please don’t elect this guy again.
I forgot to mention that Broun won a half-dozen counties in the 9th running against Perdue and Kingston and that crew in the primary, and finished a strong second in two others. I doubt that’s enough to take down an incumbent who won 80 percent of the vote but it’s a start.