A pair of highly paid Atlanta government employees took hundreds of hours of paid time off to consult for Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D., Ga.) political campaign, a double dip that saw them rake in nearly $100,000.
According to campaign finance records, Phillana Williams and Erica Pines received a combined $97,500 from Warnock during the Georgia Senate runoff elections. Williams and Pines held six-figure salary jobs with the city of Atlanta throughout the election period, during which the operatives took a combined 297 hours in paid vacation time, payroll records provided by the city of Atlanta show.
The move allowed Williams and Pines to minimize their public service responsibilities as they raked in lucrative payments from taxpayers and the Warnock campaign. A veteran Georgia political operative told the Washington Free Beacon that while congressional staffers often take time off “to lend a hand in the closing weeks of their boss’s campaign,” that time is unpaid.
“The employee of an unrelated and nonpartisan public office taking paid leave to make a buck on Warnock’s campaign is a bad look for everyone involved,” the operative said.