In 2019 the Georgia Secretary of State implemented new Dominion Voting System machines, and hired a government employee to become an outside contractor to get them running in time for the election. Now, an audit claims that contract might not have been legal, and has highlighted issues with how the Secretary of State’s office handled money.
Sterling is the government employee-turned-private contractor-turned-government employee tapped by embattled Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to implement the state’s new Dominion Voting System machines in 2020. He was a vocal opponent of Trump’s 2020 election contest. Now an audit claims Sterling’s no-bid contract may not have been legal.
Valiant News received a copy of the audit from Atlanta Tea Party co-founder Debbie Dooley, who expressed concern about Sterling’s contract and job performance repeatedly in 2020 and 2021.
Georgia media reported in 2020 that “The secretary of state’s office awarded the contract to Sterling under an emergency procurement without a competitive bidding process” because of the unique circumstances around his hiring. Those unique circumstances – rolling out a new voting system in the year of a major election – appear as a defense for Sterling’s contract.
“SOS hired its COO/CFO as a contractor to provide a range of consulting services (including services related to the implementation of the new statewide voting system),” notes the audit, describing Sterling’s position, “while they were still an employee, which may not comply with state law.”
“The requirements for competitive bidding and emergency procurements were not followed,” the audit states.
“Instead of participating in the state p-card program utilized by approximately 100 other state entities, SOS personnel acquired and routinely used a separate credit card”
In detail, the audit explains that the Secretary of State’s business relationship with former government employee Sterling as a private contractor raised multiple red flags.
Among them, “there was no break in service” between his work as a taxpayer employee versus a private contractor. “As such, the employee conducted business transactions – specifically a contract negotiation that resulted in higher pay – while employed with SOS, which may not comply with state law.”
The auditors noted that the Office of the State Inspector General noted that this “created the appearance of a conflict of interest” as early as March 2020, but apparently this was resolved when Sterling “resigned and discontinued use of an SOS email account.”
Still, the auditors say it seems that Sterling continued the duties of the Secretary of State COO/CFO after receiving his promotion. They appear to refer to him by this role, not his contractor position, for the purposes of the audit. From the audit:
However, it appears the employee continued to perform COO/CFO tasks for SOS following the OIG investigation. For example, we identified multiple instances in which the employee used his personal credit card (see page 17) or business checking account for operational business expenses that SOS should have paid for directly (e.g., data center supplies, cell phone data, video storage). Additionally, there is evidence the employee communicated with and advised SOS personnel regarding accounting and procurement activities while also acting as a contractor. Based on the OIG’s letter, these activities were likely not appropriate given OIG’s understanding that the employee’s activities as COO/CFO had ended and its recommendation to “remediate any actual or perceived conflicts of interest.”
Sterling has been described by Georgia media as “the man who oversees Georgia’s voting system” who took on the “role of project manager for the purchase and rollout of the state’s new voting equipment.” He was frequently seen speaking to the press after the 2020 election, often defending Georgia’s election integrity, and referred to his position “Voting System Implementation Manager” on LinkedIn.
The audit states that “it is unclear why” Sterling needed the salary increase and “did not perform the necessary project management services as a state employee rather than a contractor.”
Raffensperger’s office claims that the “circumstances” of Sterling’s hiring were “unique and not something we envision occurring again” and assured that they were “extremely careful” about preserving Sterling’s status as a contractor.
The use of a private credit card, which is against Georgia policies and thus federal policies, could have been avoided if Raffensperger’s office used the “state p-card program” which is used by over 100 Georgia government agencies.
“Instead of participating in the state p-card program utilized by approximately 100 other state entities, SOS personnel acquired and routinely used a separate credit card,” the audit claims. Sterling’s office also “had a practice of reimbursing employees for nontravel business expenses paid with personal credit cards.”
“In at least one instance, the COO/CFO earned reward points from a business purchase made for SOS operations with their personal credit card”
Georgia Secretary of State workers personally benefited from this arrangement on at least one occasion, in which they earned “reward points” for a purchase that was reimbursed by Georgia taxpayers.
“In at least one instance, the COO/CFO earned reward points from a business purchase made for SOS operations with their personal credit card,” the audit alleges. It adds that “these purchases were not for travel,” which is allowable under some circumstances, “but for goods and services,” which Georgia says is not covered by their policies.
Many familiar with Georgia politics believe Sterling continued to act as COO/CFO despite taking a new position as a government contractor, and thus believe it is likely that it was Sterling who received the reward points.
While only one instance of reward points being gained for a Secretary of State purchase was discovered, “given the volume stated,” noted the auditors, “it is likely more than one instance.”
Indicating the breadth of use, one personal credit card accrued over $31,000 in charges while being used – improperly, the audit maintains – in service of the Georgia Secretary of State.
According to their response in the audit, the Secretary of State claims that “some vendors required the use of a credit card” and “because we did not have a p-card or agency credit card… employees or contractors sometimes had to put certain purchases on their personal credit cards and get reimbursed.”
Additionally, Raffensperger’s office thought “that acquiring a credit card through their banking provider was allowable because there is a statewide contract to use the bank’s products.”
Sterling was paid $200,000 for his efforts in 2020, a significant increase from his $114,000 government salary prior to his decision to leave the public sector and instead work for the public sector as a private contractor. When that contract expired, Sterling went back to work as a government employee.
He defended this previously, saying it was obviously because “project management is paid out of the project budget.”
