Disgraced Former Senator: 'I Should Not Have Run For Governor'

CUMMING, GA — Former state Sen. Michael Williams is speaking out about a plea deal he took in May after he admitted he fraudulently reported computers missing from his headquarters during his campaign for governor in 2018. While he admits he lied to investigators about a phony burglary report, Williams also said he didn't commit insurance fraud. He blames a failed and controversial run for governor — known for a controversial "Deportation Bus" that drew condemnation — for some of his missteps.

Williams posted on his public Facebook page Tuesday morning that he realizes many people have already made up their mind about him. However, he said many of his supporters are still unsure about what happened the past year, and he wanted to provide clarity.

The former Trump campaign co-chairman for Georgia also said he should not have run for governor. In a bid to boost name recognition, Williams planned stops with what his campaign called the "Deportation Bus," which was supposed to be a three-town tour of Georgia's "sanctuary cities." One of those stops, planned for a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Athens, was canceled after the dining chain came out against the event. Williams' bus was emblazoned with slogans like "Fill This Bus With Illegals: Vote Michael Williams" and "Follow Me To Mexico."

"I want to apologize for any embarrassment or hurt that your support of me has caused due to what has been reported in the news," Williams said. "I might imagine you are expecting me to call it 'Fake News' or political retaliation. The truth is, much of what is being reported is correct; I did accept a plea deal, and I am guilty, but not for what I was charged."

Under the First Offender Act, Williams, who was first elected to the state senate in 2014 to represent Forsyth County, was sentenced to four years of probation, 120 hours of community service and a $5,000. The court records were sealed as a condition of the plea agreement, the AJC reported.

"I should not have run for governor or allowed my public persona to be so drastically changed to something it wasn’t," Williams wrote in his Facebook post. "Don’t get me wrong, I believe unequivocally that we need a fearless conservative who supports life, our 2nd Amendment, immigration laws and enforcement and all the other issues I ran on during my campaign. I shall continue to vigorously defend and support these issues and our constitutional rights. I should have found a gubernatorial candidate whom I could support. I should have done what each of you did."

Instead, Williams said he allowed his pride, ego and bad advice to persuade him that he had a solid chance in the governor’s race, he wrote.

"Knowing I didn’t have the name ID, the political network or the money, I subjected my ability to mount a statewide campaign to three qualifying prerequisites that would help overcome these shortcomings," he wrote. "The first red flag showed itself right before the state convention. I was advised 'I had to be a part of the convention as a gubernatorial candidate' if I wanted to have any shot at winning. We had not accomplished any of the three prerequisites and I knew it was a mistake to announce at that time, but I did anyway. In going against my gut, lowering my standards and allowing rationalization to creep in, I set the tone for the rest of my campaign. However, for the record, what I said in that speech is true."

Over the next 12 months there were numerous other red flags, Williams wrote, including going against his instincts, lowering of standards and rationalizations that he ignored.

"While supporting the issues I believed in, I allowed my campaign to do it in a way that was not representative of who I am," Williams wrote. "Because we never accomplished any of the three prerequisites, my campaign became solely about doing whatever needed to be done in order to create headlines to build name ID. If I stuck to my standards, followed my gut and not announced until the three prerequisites were met or withdrawn my candidacy when any of the other red flags occurred, the events that transpired that night in May of 2018, never would have happened."

Williams reported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in May 2018 that his Gainesville office was burglarized. His former campaign manager, Seth Weathers, said there was about $300,000 worth of computers servers taken from the headquarters.

They said the computers were used to mine cryptocurrency for Williams' business. The computers were housed at the campaign office, but not used for his campaign.

Hall County officials charged Williams in December 2018 with three counts of insurance fraud, false reporting of a crime and making a false statement, records show.

"Let me be clear," Williams wrote Tuesday. "I DID NOT commit insurance fraud. I DID NOT steal my own servers. I DID NOT authorize the stealing of my servers or any variation thereof. I DID NOT break the law."

Williams reportedly lied to a GBI agent when he said he was at home in Forsyth County, not in the Gainesville area at the time of the purported burglary, the AJC reported.

Multiple reports showed his former campaign manager, Seth Weathers, saying the indictment was a "political witch hunt."

Williams wrote that he is taking responsibility for campaign strategy mistakes and not putting a timely end to his campaign.

"A campaign that should not have started until those three prerequisites were accomplished," he said. "A campaign that took valuable resources, aka, you, my great supporters, from supporting other valid candidates. This is my greatest regret - my campaign prevented you from supporting someone else who had a much better chance of winning."

In taking the plea deal, Williams said he accepts responsibility.

"My wife and I decided that it was in the best interest of our family to close the door on this chapter of our life," Williams wrote. "We are expecting an addition to our family, a little boy, and didn’t want this distraction to continue."

The details of the plea deal also support Williams' position that he did not break the law in that there are no negative legal consequences as part of the deal, only public embarrassment, Williams wrote.

"In a very short period of time, this will be completely erased from my record," he wrote. "It will be as if it never happened. And yes, I will still be able to vote for President Trump in 2020 and Governor Brian Kemp in 2022. To all of you who stood with me during protests, sign waiving, rallies, door knocking, phone banking and all the other times we stood together fighting for our shared beliefs – Keep fighting. Keep believing in America. You are the heart and soul of our great state and nation. You will forever be in my heart and mind, and I thank you."