Did Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle Commit ‘Extortion?’
by PV
Rumors have it that Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, by promising/threatening Delta Airlines that their desired tax-exemption bill would not pass the Georgia Senate unless Delta reverses course on their snub of the NRA, may have opened himself up to be personally indicted for committing an act of “Theft by extortion” under Georgia law by a Fulton County grand jury.
PV Provides The Background Info: On Monday, February 26, 2018, this online article in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution was published. In this article, it is reported that (paraphrasing, based on the words in the AJC article): Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle threatened Delta Airlines that their hoped-for tax break would not pass the State Senate because of Delta’s snub of the NRA regarding group flying rate discounts. And, that Delta must reverse their course in order to get their desired tax-break passed (again, PV is paraphrasing any words Cagle may have said because we were not witness to his actual statements).
So, based on the information contained in the AJC article (and other publications) is there potentially a specific state criminal statute that applies here? You betcha! According to OCGA 16-8-16(a)(4) & (b), this spells-out in clear detail:
“16-8-16. Theft by extortion
(a) A person commits the offense of theft by extortion when he unlawfully obtains property of or from another person by threatening to:
(1) Inflict bodily injury on anyone or commit any other criminal offense;
(2) Accuse anyone of a criminal offense;
(3) Disseminate any information tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair his credit or business repute;
(4) Take or withhold action as a public official or cause an official to take or withhold action;
(5) Bring about or continue a strike, boycott, or other collective unofficial action if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or
(6) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense.
(b) In a prosecution under this Code section, the crime shall be considered as having been committed in the county in which the threat was made or received or in the county in which the property was unlawfully obtained.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution based on paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (6) of subsection (a) of this Code section that the property obtained by threat of accusation, exposure, legal action, or other invocation of official action was honestly claimed as restitution or indemnification for harm done in the circumstance to which such accusation, exposure, legal action, or other official action relates or as compensation for property or lawful services.
(d) A person convicted of the offense of theft by extortion shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.”
And, the definition of what constitutes a “person,” in several locations in Georgia law, includes a corporation/company like Delta Airlines being victimized via a threat of extortion by a public official like Casey Cagle via the alleged threat he issued.
This alleged threat was made in the geographical political subdivision known as Fulton County, and that is the county of jurisdiction of this matter as per Sub-paragraph (b) above. NOT the “Ethics Commission”…but this matter would belong squarely in the District Attorney’s Office of Paul Howard.
Separate from any potential action by the Fulton DA’s office, it may also be that the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office also has a) jurisdiction and b) probable cause to seek an arrest warrant for Casey Cagle’s alleged publicly-issued extortion threat of the legal person of “Delta Airlines.”
Now, PV predicts that the LG will, if faced with an arrest warrant, declare himself to be a “Member of the Georgia General Assembly” and therefore be a “privileged member” of that entity under Ga Constitution, Article III, Section IV, Paragraph IX. That Section states as follows:
“Privilege of members: The members of both houses shall be free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly, or committee meetings thereof, and in going thereto or returning therefrom, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. No member shall be liable to answer in any other place for anything spoken in either house or in any committee meeting of either house.”
Except this section of the Ga Constitution specifically excludes “felonies.” So, even if Cagle successfully argues that he is a “Member of the Georgia General Assembly,” there is a felony exception to any privilege from being arrested.
Who is a “Member” of the Georgia General Assembly? Well, lucky for us, some previous Legislature wrote and passed a law to tell us this:
“OCGA § 28-1-1. Membership and apportionment of General Assembly:
(a) There shall be 180 members of the House of Representatives, and such membership shall be apportioned among the representative districts provided for in Chapter 2 of this title.
(b) There shall be 56 members of the Senate, and such membership shall be apportioned among the senatorial districts provided for in Chapter 2 of this title.”
The LG is neither a State Senator nor is he a State Representative. Being “President of The Senate” does not make Cagle a “Member” of the State Senate. Nowhere in the Georgia Constitution is such a thing stated explicitly, implied, or inferred.
And, if the Ga Gen Assembly intended for the LG to be a “Member” of the body of Georgia General Assembly, then why would the Legislature have not amended this OCGA section to include a ‘Sub-Paragraph (c)’ in OCGA 28-1-1 to specifically designate anyone holding the Office of Lieutenant Governor to be a “Member of the General Assembly?”
They didn’t because the LG is a full-time, 365-days of each year of his term, member of only of the Executive Branch of Georgia Government, not a “Member” of the Legislative Branch in any way, shape, or form. And, one cannot be a member of two or more branches of state government at the same time (See Georgia Constitution).
Finally, regardless of the fact that the LG office’s finances are handled by the Legislative House Fiscal Office, and regardless of the fact that he receives a daily stipend equal to the amount of money any State Representative or State Senator receives, neither those financial management services, nor the daily stipend payments he receives during Session, make him a “Member” of the Georgia General Assembly.
As such, he is not afforded any protection from being investigated for, or, potentially charged with, a felony while carrying out his duties as Lieutenant Governor during this current session of the Legislature.
March 8th, 2018 at 12:08 am
Stupidity & hypocrisy everywhere on this issue. (a) The state should not be telling a private business which charitable or social organizations to promote. (b) OTOH, the state should not be giving tax breaks to some private businesses but not others. I work for a Georgia-based business. We create jobs here. Where’s my firm’s tax break? I thought conservatives believed government should not pick economic winners & losers? (c) We sure as HELL should not be giving tax breaks for fossil fuels. Ice caps melting, seas rising, storms intensifying, etc. We are ruled by fools, and hypocritical fools.
April 17th, 2018 at 2:33 pm
Seems I remember Texas Gov. Rick Perry doin’ somethin’ like that. The Austin, Tx. Grand Jury indicted him. A Ga. Grand Jury has the Constitutional authority to do the same; just like a Liberty County Grand Jury did back in ’53.