Perdue accuses Kingston of cover-up involving felon contributor

ATLANTA, Ga. — Republican David Perdue is going after congressman Jack Kingston, alleging he knew there were potential issues with two major campaign contributors out of Gwinnett County.

Perdue described facts reported by Channel 2 Action News as troubling, and accused Kingston and his campaign of a cover-up.

According to opensecrets.org, Confirmatrix and Nue Medical are No. 1 and No. 4 on Kingston's list of contributors, with their employees donating more than $70,000.

Both companies have ties to Khalid Ahmed Satary, who spent three years in federal prison for having one of the largest music counterfeiting operations in the United States.

Federal authorities want to deport Satary to the Middle East, but so far no country will sign off on his travel orders.

Kingston returned $70,000 in campaign donations following a Channel 2 Action News investigation that revealed information about the contributors.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, Satary was the founding CEO of Confirmatrix.

The company now says that there was a paperwork mistake, and that Satary was only a consultant.

Satary’s 19-year-old son, who has been photographed with Kingston, is the CEO of Nue Medical.

Kingston told Channel 2’s Lori Geary that he had no idea of Satary’s criminal background and that he did not remember meeting him or his son.

Kingston said he found out in April that there was an internal company dispute that raised questions about the senate fundraiser.

“We also got an attorney, just in case, to make sure that everything was fine. We have complied with all the law,” Kingston said.

Perdue said he believes Kingston covered up what is now coming to light.

“They looked at it, they decided to keep the money, that was the conclusion,” Perdue said. “They decided not to tell anybody. Now when they're exposed, well oops, we'll give the money back.”

In addition to giving back the money, Kingston removed Confirmatrix from his finance committee.

WSBTV