“Georgia voters deserve to know which companies and individuals have potentially paid Walker thousands if not millions of dollars in consulting fees”
Today, a new report from Georgia Public Broadcasting details that Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has failed to disclose the identity of “consulting” clients that have paid him thousands of dollars and which “could help voters spot potential conflicts of interests.”
According to the report, Walker failed to list any clients that paid him more than $5000 and inaccurately reported sources of income and positions he’s held in 2020 and 2021, despite claiming “more than $3 million in shareholder income” from H. Walker Enterprises LLC, a “business consulting and professional services” business that Walker says hold a value “between $25 million and $50 million.”
According to Georgia Public Broadcasting, “A spokeswoman for Walker’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment or clarification about his financial disclosure.”
“Honesty and transparency aren’t optional, so Georgia voters deserve to know which companies and individuals have paid Walker potentially millions of dollars,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Aidan Johnson. “Walker has already been caught lying about his record as a businessman and exaggerating his academic achievements—Walker needs to start being honest with Georgians.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting: Ethics experts say Herschel Walker’s U.S. Senate financial disclosure bears further scrutiny
By: Stephen Fowler | April 11, 2022
Key Points:
- “Trump-backed Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s personal financial disclosure is missing key information that could help voters spot potential conflicts of interests if elected, several campaign finance experts say.”
- “The former Heisman Trophy winner and frontrunner in the race to face Sen. Raphael Warnock is the wealthiest candidate in the contest, with a reported net worth between $29 million and $65 million. He reported more than $4 million in income from late 2020 to December 2021, when his disclosure was filed.”
- “For some categories found on the financial disclosure, federal law only requires ranges of amounts instead of specifics, so the exact value of Walker’s investments are not known.”
- “A review of Walker’s financial disclosure shows inconsistencies in reporting sources of income and positions (both compensated and uncompensated) held, as well as a failure to list any sources that paid Walker more than $5,000 in 2020 and 2021.”
- “Three campaign finance and government ethics experts who reviewed Walker’s disclosures said the lack of required information could prevent voters from understanding potential conflicts of interests if he becomes a U.S. senator.”
- “All three also had questions about H. Walker Enterprises LLC, Walker’s flagship company, which has a reported value of between $25 million and $50 million and netted him more than $3 million in shareholder income from 2020 to 2021.”
- “‘The lack of sources of compensation over $5,000 definitely raises some red flags,’ said Delaney Marsco, senior legal counsel for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center. ‘It’s very odd that there would be somebody who has a consulting firm, has a lot of money from that consulting firm but is not reporting any clients that are paying over $5,000.”
- “Marsco said it is possible for H. Walker Enterprises to be worth tens of millions of dollars and for Walker to earn millions in shareholder income as listed, but there should be more explanation from the campaign about how his business works. She added that candidates filing incomplete or sloppy disclosure forms is a widespread problem.”
- “A first-time candidate, Walker’s personal and professional background has made continued headlines since his entry into the race last fall. A Columbus Ledger-Enquirer report found Walker failed to repay $625,000 in loans he personally guaranteed for a pizza chain called Zoner’s, listed on his disclosure under ‘Corporate Securities, Non-Public Stock.’”
- “The Associated Press did a deep dive on Walker’s ‘exaggerated claims of financial success,’ and found his business records were inflated.”
Read the full report here.
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Published: Apr 11, 2022 | Last Modified: Apr 18, 2022