According to a report by the AJC’s Greg Bluestein, a state rep from North Georgia was threatened by Governor Deal’s top aide. Representative Matt Gurtler (R-Tiger) said the threat was a loss of funding to his district by Chris Riley.
“I am appalled by Mr. Riley’s actions of intimidation and bullying tactics of an elected official”, Gurtler said. “His actions were wrong and unethical, and this type of behavior goes against our system of separation of powers.”
This is not the first time legislators have reported less than cordial conversations with the Governors Chief of Staff. For his part Riley said,
“If he felt threatened by what I asked him and my defense of the governor’s position, we probably have bigger issues to address than separation of powers.”
While the rub seems to center on a number of “No” votes from the freshman representative, it should come as no surprise to those who followed Gurtler’s successful campaign of less government interference and fewer taxes.