BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office are investigating a former metro Atlanta district attorney’s purchase of a government-owned pickup truck through an online auction.
Last month, Channel 2’s Mark Winne reported that a sheriff accused former Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jonathan Adams, who is now a Superior Court judge-elect, of using bogus photos of his official truck in an online auction so he could buy it at a lower price.
Winne has now received a statement from the GBI that confirms they are investigating the situation.
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“On Monday, June 22, 2026, the Office of the Attorney General requested GBI assistance with a public officials investigation regarding former Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jonathan Adams. The case is active and ongoing,” the statement read.
The truck involved was the government-owned vehicle that Adams drove in his official capacity as district attorney.
An October 2025 document obtained by Channel 2 Action News indicates that Adams reached out to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office official and said, ”We have a surplus truck we need to auction, and I wanted to see if you could put it up under the SO’s account since we don’t have one."
Documents suggest that a picture of the truck for the auction was supplied by Adams, but it does not appear to be an accurate photo of the truck that was up for sale.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long says his office gathered open records about the truck transaction after he got a tip.
He says that he is concerned that providing a picture of a less attractive truck, Adams may have kept the bidding lower than it would have been if he had provided a photo of the actual truck for sale.
“Just misled the public, totally misled the public in the auction,” Long said. “Look if the GBI clears it, then they clear it, but I think at the end of the day there needs to be some questions answered.”
Former DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James says that a letter Winne shared with him from Prosecuting Attorney’s Council Pete Skandalakis to Attorney General Chris Carr basically appoints Carr or someone he designates as a special prosecutor to look at what the GBI finds in the Adams investigation.
“They’re going to work with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and help determine whether or not, in fact, the crime has been committed,” James said.
District Attorney Dorothy Hull says after learning the Monroe County sheriff made a report about her predecessor Adams’ truck purchase, she determined that her office had a conflict of interest since she and others worked for Adams previously. She asked Skandalakis to appoint someone else to handle any prosecutorial decisions.
Hull says that is not a comment on the merits of the case.
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