Former GOP operatives fined for roles in fake charity
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three men who have worked as Republican political operatives, including one who worked as a campaign manager and adviser to Northwest Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, agreed to pay more than $50,000 in restitution and penalties in Ohio for their roles in operating a phony charity that collected cash purportedly to help victims of the East Palestine train derailment.
The settlement, announced Thursday by Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, requires Isaiah Wartman and Luke Mahoney of WAMA Strategies to pay more than $22,000 to a local food bank, plus $3,000 in investigative costs and fees.
Under the deal, Michael Peppel, cofounder of the fraudulent charity Ohio Clean Water Fund, must pay a $25,000 civil penalty and agree to a lifetime ban on starting, running or soliciting for any charity in the state, Yost announced.
Wartman was Greene’s campaign manager in 2020 when she was first elected to Congress, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wartman was listed as a Greene political consultant as recently as May, the paper said.
Mahoney worked as a campaign staffer for Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York, Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer reported.
Wartman and Mahoney formed WAMA Strategies together earlier this year. The settlement prohibits the strategy group from soliciting charitable donations in Ohio for the next four years, and Mahoney from starting, operating or soliciting contributions for any charity in Ohio until 2027.
Peppel previously worked as a senior legislative aide to GOP Ohio state Sen. Michael Rulli, of Mahoning County, the news organization reported, and as political director for the campaign of Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, of Eastern Ohio.
According to Yost’s investigation, Wartman and Mahoney were fundraisers for the fake charity, which collected nearly $149,000 from donors in the aftermath of the fiery Feb. 3 derailment that caused ongoing harm to the tiny community of East Palestine, along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Toxic chemicals released by the crash led to resident evacuations and lingering health worries.