GOP Fulton County Commission Chairman candidate Steve Broadbent, along with Republican Fulton County Commission candidates Lori Henry (At Large) and Liz Hausmann (North Fulton) held a press conference on the steps of the downtown county offi ces downtown on Wednesday demanding a Federal probe into the alleged fraud revolving around county employees who were under an internal county investigation for supposedly diverting $183,000 of taxpayer money to a shell company in the form of Wal-Mart gift cards and bogus invoices.

Broadbent, Henry, and Hausmann called for the US Attorney’s offi ce and the FBI to investigate what they say are “serious charges of employee fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in Fulton County.”

County manager Zachary Williams first fired one internal investigator and then demoted another before shutting down the investigation altogether. He is reported as telling his staff to hold off on any probes until after the November election.

Broadbent, who is attempting to strip the incumbent Democrat John Eaves of his chairmanship in November, sent a letter to Fulton County D.A. Paul Howard -- also a Democrat -- two weeks ago demanding the investigation be resumed.

Howard spokesperson Yvette Brown, when contacted, said Howard was waiting for an internal report from county administrators, which was due on Thursday.

OLENS PLEDGES PROBE IF NECESSARY

But Republican candidate for state Attorney General Sam Olens said that if elected he would launch an independentinvestigation from the Attorney General’s office if the Fulton County D.A.’s office refused to act. Olens said the fi rst probe should come from Howard, and he would only get the AG’s offi ce involved if it was the clear the County D.A’s office wouldn’t.