AJC

A political consulting company that U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop hired to lead his re-election campaign in 2014 was charged by the Justice Department last week with conspiring to launder money.

 The Albany Democrat, who has represented Georgia’s 2nd U.S. House District for 24 years, spent more than $95,000 on the services of the Macon-based Positiventures Initiative LLC in 2014, according to federal campaign finance filings. Positiventures is an advocacy group formed to fight poverty in struggling west and middle Georgia communities.

Bishop said the group provided him with his campaign manager Kimberlyn Carter for the 2014 election cycle and also constructed and installed large wooden campaign signs throughout the district, which encompasses a 29-county swath of Southwest Georgia and includes portions of Macon.

The company was named in a federal corruption probe that drew big headlines in middle Georgia when it was announced last week. [MORE]