Governor, two top aides subpoenaed in whistle-blower lawsuit

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned Gov. Nathan Deal and two top staffers have been subpoenaed to testify in a whistle-blower lawsuit.
 
The case stems from an investigation into ethics violations filed against the governor when he was running for office.
 
A spokesman confirms Deal, his chief of staff Chris Riley, and chief counsel Ryan Teague are all on the potential witness list for a whistleblower case filed by former state ethics deputy Sherilyn Streicker.
 
Streicker claims she was fired for aggressively pursuing an ethics investigation against Deal's 2010 campaign.
 
Her former boss, Stacey Kalberman has also filed suit. The pair was working together on the Deal case when they suddenly lost their jobs.
 
In depositions, former ethics staffers have testified Kalberman's replacement, Holly LaBerge, bragged about the governor "owing her" because she made his problems go away.
 
Teague is the one who recruited LaBerge for the job, months before it was vacant.
 
The ethics commission eventually settled the complaints against the governor for $3,350, significantly less than the $70,000 originally proposed.

A fourth subpoena was also issued to the governor's private attorney
 
There is no word yet on whether the three will try to fight these subpoenas. The trial is scheduled to start Friday.
 
Kalberman and Streicker are also two of the five ethics employees asked to supply documents to a federal grand jury investigating some of this.

WSBTV