FBI Raids Atlanta City Hall As Bribery Probe Deepens
According to WSB TV, FBI agents have targeted the City of Atlanta’s procurement office this afternoon and are questioning the City’s procurement director Adam Smith. Presumably, they’re looking for the invisible hands behind a pay for play bribery scheme that has already netted two guilty pleas by city contractors, but none for City of Atlanta officials.
Much of the attention media has given this case surrounds Mayor Reed’s former campaign official turned city employee Mitzi Bickers. The AJC had a team of reporters do a profile of Bickers’ recent personal and professional history that’s worth a read to understand the lay of the land here.
This is the same investigation that the City and Mayor Reed decided to be quite cute with open records requests, pretending that printing electronic records (many of which were illegible or blank pages) and putting them in bulk in a room would satisfy the public. It only served to anger the press, who continues to ask “What is the city hiding”.
Now, the FBI is asking Adam Smith. Hopefully he’ll be able to shed some light on to who, exactly, was involved in the city’s part of this division of labor to engineer payment from contractors to guarantee city business.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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11Alive reporting that Adam Smith has been fired, which will surly deplete some of his wealth of nations.
http://www.11alive.com/news/local/fbi-seizes-computer-city-fires-employee/410978011
I see what you did there (and also up there).
Must’ve been the invisible hand.
Vengeance for all of us blocked by hizzoner on Twitter.
I got a mailer yesterday that apparently mentions this post, so I thought I would kick this up so others can find it more easily than I did.
It’s from a group called “Concerned Atlantans Inc”. with a Roswell Rd address.
It doesn’t say so, but one would think it is in support of Mary Norwood, as Keisha does have close ties to the current admin.
My opinion- Once again we don’t have a great choice. Somehow we have ended up with two flawed candidates.
I sure wish John Eaves had made it to the runoff.
I agree the two choices aren’t very good. John Eaves served well enough and presumably would continue to do so as Mayor, but the campaign that first put him in office in Fulton County was less than reputable.