A wave of racist, xenophobic candidates ran in the 2018 midterm elections, inspired by Donald Trump and his immigration rhetoric. Some were openly avowed white supremacists, some were just tied to white supremacist groups, and all ran as GOP candidates.
The “deportation bus” candidate who finished in last place in the Georgia GOP primary is accused of insurance fraud after claiming his campaign office was robbed days before the May vote #gapol https://t.co/J6gn2hts79
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 21, 2018
One such candidate was Michael Williams, whose racist “deportation bus” ad was pulled from YouTube for its rhetoric. Now, the person getting on a bus to jail is Williams himself.
According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution:
‘The indictment, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, accuses the Forysth County Republican of insurance fraud, making a false statement and false report of a crime.
‘Williams, a Forsyth County Republican who remains in office until January, declined to comment. His former campaign manager, Seth Weathers, said it was a “political witch hunt” and is without merit.’
$300,000 worth of servers? Not in this day and age, especially for a state office primary campaign. The system price he's claiming was typical for a high end system 20 plus years ago. They had to have a really easy time catching himhttps://t.co/Ampf0r0P5k
— Ed Colton (@ambodian) December 21, 2018
Taking a page from the Trump playbook, Williams’ spokesman Seth Weathers called the charges “a witch hunt” and insinuated that the police who’ve charged Williams with multiple felonies are simply biased against conservatives and working in collusion with liberals.
‘I guess it’s the price you pay for being a fearless conservative. Like they say, a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich.’
The Republican candidate for Georgia governor who drove around in a "Deportation Bus" has been indicted for insurance fraud. Michael Williams currently serves as a GA state senator. Breaking details on CBS46 News at 9 on Peachtree TV pic.twitter.com/YjLt8zwaj0
— CBS46 (@cbs46) December 20, 2018
Also like Williams’ political hero, Donald Trump, his lies are finally catching up to him. Reports of a burglary at his office in Gainesville turned out to be a false report, and Williams collected an insurance payment due to the claim.
‘The charges issued Tuesday by Hall County authorities relate to a May incident where Williams reported that his Gainesville office was burglarized. At the time, Weathers said $300,000 worth of computers servers were taken from the building.
‘Williams 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 actually happened to the servers, accuses him of making a false insurance claim related to the servers.’
Williams is in the process of negotiating with police a date to turn himself in to be incarcerated. For the next few weeks, he will remain a member of the Senate in Georgia.
‘He remains a sitting member of the state Senate, though he will be succeeded on Jan. 14 by Republican Greg Dolezal. He’s not likely to be expelled: That would require a two-thirds vote from the state Senate, which won’t reconvene until mid-January.’
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
