An Overview of Political Contributions to a Johnston County PAC - CAAG PAC (Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government)

Writer: Edwin Boyette

Image Source CAAG Facebook Group

CAAG PAC

Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government (CAAG) based in Johnston County, NC - is an advocacy group, appears to have a related entity registered with the State of North Carolina as CAAG Incorporated, and has an asscoiated Political Action Committee (PAC), registered with the Federal Election Commissions (FEC) as CAAG PAC. The FEC's page for CAAG PAC can be accessed here. Local media source the Joco Report began reporting on CAAG in 2021 with an article titled "Citizen Group Forms, First Demand is School Board Accountability."

CAAG-ENDORSED CANDIATE RONALD JOHNSON CONVICTED OF FELONY EXTORTION

The focus on accountability at the School Board may have some relevant context in the most recent election, CAAG mailers focused heavily on School Board races, and CAAG-endorsed candidate Ronald Johnson who won reelection to the Johnston County Board of Education in the 2024 General Election, was recently convicted of felony extortion and ordered removed from the Board for an "act of corruption" by Judge Crosswhite in the recent trial. The News and Observer reported on the Johnson trial at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article298672958.html
Testimony during the trial identified that Johnson's act of extortion was comitted against Congressional candidate Devan Barbour. Barbour was endorsed by CAAG in mailers sent out prior to the Primary Election in 2024.

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CAAG PAC FEC FILING AND FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Accessing CAAG PAC's FEC records and filings a few interesting item are discernible. CAAG PAC was registered with the FEC on April 30, 2024. From the point of registration CAAG PAC reports raising $59,100 for the period starting April 1, 2024 and ending November 15, 2025.

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAAG PAC

Parsing through the filings submitted by CAAG the sources of contributions to CAAG were identified and summarized in a spreadsheet.

EXPANDED CONTRIBUTION DETAIL: JAMES KOMAN

James (Jim) Koman who contributed $12,00 is listed as an investor associated with ElmTree Funds a prviate equity real estate firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is not readily apparent how Mr. Koman is connected to Johnston County politics. Searching through the available records the North Carolina State Board of Elections - Campaign Finance pages, I was unable to identify previous contributions to candidates in North Carolina.

EXPANDED CONTRIBUTION DETAIL: JOHNSTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN MEN

CAAG's filing indicates that the Johnston County Republican Men made a $6,000 contribution on October 17,2024. A note on the filing indicates this was an "in kind" contribution but offers no further detail. Johnston County Republican Men was incorporated by Thomas Antoine on April 5, 2022. Thomas is the husband of Johnston County School Board Member Michelle Antoine, who is also mentioned in this report.

The Johnston County Republican Men (JCRM) generated some controversy with endorsements of School Board candidates, including Ronald Johnson, who were featured in mailers and handouts produced by CAAG. Thomas Antoine is reportedly a current office or a member with substantial influence in the JCRM. I was unable to locate a publicly accessible list of officers for the organization prior to publication of this report. A mailer was sent out by CAAG, indicating candidates endorsed by the JCRM and utilizing imagery produced by the I-Voter Guide. It was reported to be by another Johnston County resident, that they had contacted the I-Voter Guide, to complain that there were logos and imagery were being used to promote a candidate indicted for felony extortion. I-Voter reportedly notifed the resident that it had sent out a cease and desist letter to the offending groups and was contemplating further legal action. According to filings obtained from the Johnston County Board of elections, Thomas Antoine also made contributions to the campaigns of School Board candidates Rick Walker, and David Spain.

EXPANDED CONTRIBUTION DETAIL: THE AMERICAN FOUNDATIONS COMMITTEE

The American Foundations Committee (AFC) is a Super-Pac registered with the FEC. The AFC made a total of $20,000 in contributions to CAAG during the reported period. According to previous filings Joe Knott III (father of Congressman John Bradford Knott) was treasurer of record for AFC, before that role was assumed by Boyd Sturgess in late 2023.

EXPANDED CONTRIBUTION DETAIL: COMMERCIAL INSTALLATIONS INC. (MICHELLE ANTOINE)

FEC records identified a $15,000 contribution to CAAG from Commerical Installations Inc. on October 14, 2024. On FEC Records for individual contributors Michelle Antoine is identified as the President/Owner of Commercial Installations Inc. Michelle Antoine is a current member of the Johnston County School Board

EXPANDED CONTRIBUTION DETAIL: JOHN BRADFORD KNOTT

CAAG's filings indicate a $6,000 contribution on November 4, 2024 from a "John B. Knott". The image of the filling has been redacted to obscure the address of the contributor. Cross referencing the address with voter registration data, the contributor was identified as US Representative John Bradford Knott, representing North Carolina's 13th Congressional District.

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