Former employee says Kingston knew convicted felon contributor

ATLANTA — The man who planned a fundraiser for Republican Senate candidate Jack Kingston said he can no longer keep quiet and is going on record claiming Kingston knew about issues coming to light six weeks ago.

Kingston returned the money in question and said an interview with Channel 2 Action News that he did not know about the problems until we asked him about them last week.

“When I saw your interview I realized that he's actually lying,” former marketing consultant Robert Miller told Channel 2’s Lori Geary.

Miller said he is stunned Kingston denies knowing two of his top contributors have ties with a convicted felon.

Khalid Achmed Satary spent three years in prison and is under a federal deportation order, authorities said.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Kingston said.

Miller and his attorneys say the contributions were concerning.

“He looked like a deer in the headlights but he had a heads up on this,” Miller said of Kingston.

Miller said he is a former marketing consultant for Nue Medical, a Lawrenceville-based company whose CEO is Satary's 19-year-old son.

Khalid is listed on state documents as the founding CEO of Confirmatrix. According to documents obtained by Channel 2 Action news, contributions from employees there made it Kingston's top contributor.

Employees of Nue Medical place it at number four on Kingston’s list of contributors, according to opensecrets.org.

Miller said he told the Kingston campaign about Satary's criminal past and that the contributions were possibly illegal because they were bundled.

“There were bonuses written to the employees and they were told to keep a few hundred for (their) travel and donate the rest to Kingston,” Miller told Geary. “We told them we were going to the FBI.”

Miller said part of his job was to improve Satary’s reputation online.

He also helped organize a fundraiser for Kingston at Chateau Elan, Miller said.

“I remember the event,” Kingston said.

Kingston said he does not remember meeting Satary.

“He sat next to Khalid,” Miller said. “He sat next to him for two hours.”

Channel 2 Action News obtained exclusive video of the fundraiser that shows Satary asking a question to Kingston.

Another photo shows Kingston and Satary together.

The same day, Kingston attended a ribbon-cutting for Nue Medical.

“There is a credibility issue now and there's an integrity issue now and that's why i agreed to do this interview, “ Miller said. “I am a disgruntled ex-employee, sure, but the truth is the truth and the facts are the facts.”

The Kingston camp maintains at that May meeting they were only told about a company dispute among some of the employees.

Out of an abundance of caution, they returned the contributions even though they are in full compliance with the law.

A Confirmatrix spokesman told Geary Satary was never the company’s CEO, just a consultant.

WSBTV