Earlier today National File reported that Gabriel Sterling, originally an employee of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, left his position and was paid just under $200,000 over the course of a year for his role in the management of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Georgia records reveal that Sterling, listed under his full name Robert Gabriel Sterling, was paid around $50,000 per year in 2019 and 2020, meaning his company earned four times his normal salary while managing the controversial election.
As National File reported earlier today, Sterling was often referred to as a Voting System Implementation Manager during and after the 2020 election, but Sterling had not been an official employee of the Secretary of State since July of that year. On July 1, 2020, his company – Sterling Innovative Solutions LLC – was working for the government as an independent contractor, something Sterling says is normal.
However, according to OpenGeorgia.gov, “a gateway for obtaining information and key documents about how the State of Georgia spends tax dollars” with information “from various state agencies” that is “updated annually,” Sterling typically makes around $50,000 per year.
In 2019, Sterling made $44,923.72 and the state paid $1,769.97 worth of his travel expenses, while during the 2020 fiscal year this rose to $52,488.15 plus $4,921.71 of his travel expenses. This would indicate that, as an employee, Sterling was paid around $4,374 per month until July of 2020.
When Sterling’s company Sterling Innovative Solutions LLC’s contract with the Georgia Secretary of State was active, the company made $16,666 per month for a total of $199,992 over the year before taxes. Sterling, who appears to be the sole owner of the company, managed to negotiate a number for his company that was nearly four times better than what he managed to negotiate as an employee.
However, when the contract expired earlier this year, Sterling dutifully returned to a position working for the Georgia Secretary of State. Now, he is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. National File looks forward to reporting Sterling’s 2021 earnings when they are made available.
The contract was originally obtained via an open records request by Debbie Dooley, the co-founder and president of the Atlanta Tea Party, who told National File she believed it was “highly unethical.”
“It’s highly unethical for him to quit his job in order to take this contract, and then to become an employee of the Secretary of State again,” said Dooley. She added that Sterling “wanted to be a contractor because he would get paid a lot more than he would at as an employee.”