LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga – An ethics complaint has been filed against the Gwinnett County commissioner who called U.S. Rep. John Lewis “a racist pig.”
Nancie Turner and her attorneys are holding a press conference at 1:30 pm on Tuesday to announce the complaint, prior to tomorrow evening’s Gwinnett commission meeting.
In January, Tommy Hunter made the now-deleted post on his Facebook page after Lewis said Donald Trump was “not a legitimate president.”
Hunter has since apologized for what he called “a poor choice of words,” but protestors have continued calling for Hunter’s resignation at every commission meeting that has been held since the controversy began.
Lewis made his remarks during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” the week before Trump’s inauguration. Lewis was referring to allegations that Russian hacking interfered with the presidential election’s outcome.
Turner’s ethics complaint allege that Hunter’s comments and past behavior violate three parts of the Gwinnett County Code of Ethics. Lawyers are asking Gwinnett’s ethics board to refer the matter to the county’s Solicitor General to determine if Hunter violated the law with his Facebook posts.
“If the people who filed this complaint actually passed the bar, I’d be impressed,” said Seth Weathers, a consultant for Hunter. “The people who are filing are either aware it’s a bogus complaint made for political purposes, or are truly so ignorant of the law they think it could be filed legitimately.”
“I find it very interesting that someone who works on a high, national level such as Weathers is working for a county commissioner,” said civil rights attorney Helen Kim Ho, who is one of Turner’s lawyers. “Hunter’s district is split almost 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, and he’s not up for re-election until 2020, which is precisely why so many people want to see him resign.
"I feel terrible for our county because of the national and international attention that has come from this."
“There is zero chance that Hunter will be removed,” Weathers said. “Nothing that he said could possibly be viewed as a criminal complaint. The complaint is going to be thrown out as the joke that it is.”
