Marjorie Taylor Greene's Ex-Campaign Manager Agrees Charity Scam Payout

A former campaign manager and senior adviser to Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has agreed a settlement in a case in Ohio involving a fraudulent charity.

Isaiah Wartman, who has worked for Greene, and Luke Mahoney, who was previously a campaign staffer for Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, have agreed to substantial payments in a settlement announced on Thursday by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

Wartman and Mahoney, both of the company WAMA Strategies, have agreed to pay $22,000 each in restitution to a local food bank as well as $3,000 to the attorney general's office to cover investigative costs and fees.

In May this year, Wartman was quoted as Greene's campaign manager in a report by The Daily Beast, while a New York Times report from October, 2022 cited him as a senior adviser to Greene. It is not known if he still works for her.

Newsweek has reached out to Greene's office via email for comment.

Greene has become one of the most prominent Republican members of Congress since her election in 2020 and is a close ally of former President Donald Trump. She was re-elected last year and serves Georgia's 14th congressional district.

Mahoney and Wartman were fundraisers for the fraudulent charity the Ohio Clean Water Fund, and collected almost $149,000 in donations for that charity following a major train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3. The train was carrying hazardous chemicals.

Three days after the derailment emergency crews released vinyl chloride, a toxic chemical, from five of the train's tank cars and burned the chemical to prevent the cars from exploding. This led to the evacuation of 5,000 people, about half of East Palestine's residents, and raised serious health concerns.

The Ohio Clean Water Fund claimed the money raised would go to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley but only $10,000 was given to the food bank.

Michael Peppel, co-founder of the Ohio Clean Water Fund, also agreed to pay $25,000 civil penalty as part of the settlement and now has a lifetime ban on starting a charity, running one or soliciting donations for a charity in Ohio.

Peppel has previously worked for Republican legislators in Ohio, serving as senior legislative aide to state Senator Michael Rulli and a staffer for U.S. Representative Bill Johnson, according to the Cleveland.com website.

The settlement also means WAMA Strategies cannot solicit charity donations in Ohio for four years and Mahoney has agreed not to start, run, or raise donations for a charity in the state until 2027.

Cleveland attorney Bryan Kostura, who is representing WAMA Strategies, said that Wartman and Mahoney had been victims of fraud committed by Peppel and that WAMA Strategies had provided documents to the Ohio attorney general's office to aid the investigation.

"The fact is that WAMA was dedicated to doing what was right fo the people of East Palestine from the beginning," Kostura told Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, adding that Wartman and Mahoney "were just as bamboozled as the people that donated money by Mr. Peppel."

Kostura said that WAMA Strategies had ceased fundraising as soon as they learned that the Ohio Clean Water Fund did not have a contract with the food bank in question.

The attorney said his clients "did what was right and gave back all of their profits for this entire engagement to the people of East Palestine."