In a news release and report today, State Auditor Les Merritt, a Republican, said that state policy allows public employees to make reasonable personal use of state-provided Internet access. However, he found activity in both offices that rose above reasonable personal use to a level of active participation in political campaigns.

"Let's remember that when state resources and personnel are used for political campaigning, it's the taxpayers that get stuck with the bill," Merritt said.

The audit found "significant" evidence of campaigning within the treasurer's office. It found some evidence of campaign activity in Perdue's office and also the potential for abuse of state resources.

The issue arose in September, when an attorney for Perdue sent Merritt a letter noting that her office had received a public records request from someone using a computer in Moore's office. That e-mail was sent by Julie White, a senior adviser to Moore's campaign who was also at the time the communications director for the treasurer's office. White sent the requests from her father-in-law's e-mail account.

A few hours after that complaint, Moore's campaign manager sent his own complaint to Merritt, claiming that Perdue had similarly used her office for political activities.

The audit found, four employees in Moore's office, including White, who accessed Web sites of political action committees, a polling consultant and the state Democratic Party's voter database. The auditors found 53 political documents including speeches, planning documents, a donor "thank you" letter, fliers and agendas for campaign meetings, as well as contact lists. The auditors found 60 e-mail messages regarding campaign activity that circulated between treasurer employees and Moore's campaign staff.

The auditors think the employees used state computers to access personal e-mail accounts. "in addition, computer analysis indicated the chief deputy and communications director were occasionally included in correspondence related to campaign activities," Merritt wrote.

Officials in the treasurer's office admitted that nine messages or documents were inappropriate, Merritt wrote. Officials in the treasurer's office, however, also said some of the documents and messages were related to official state business. Merritt disagreed.

"Many of the speeches in which the State Treasurer was speaking were in an official capacity. However many of these speeches were given to partisan political groups...and included mentions of the State Treasurer's campaign for governor," Merritt wrote. "Further many e-mail messages that State Treasurer management classified as 'official duties' involved correspondence with campaign staff to ensure a 'consistent message' between the Department of State Treasurer and the campaign for governor. As a result, we believe these are inappropriate uses of state resources."

Moore wrote in a response that he had already taken steps to stop the political use of state equipment even before Merritt began the investigation. Employees were disciplined, including one who was suspended for a week without pay.

Moore's campaign manager, Jay Reiff, said that aside from the nine instances in which Moore acknowledged inappropriate activity, the auditor's report is overstating things or even wrong. Many of the things Merritt cited, such as the office keeping a list of reporters, are common and would have been done whether Moore was seeking election or not. His speeches, Reiff said, were not political, but focused on issues relating to the treasurer's office.

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