Pat Swindall

Patrick Lynn Swindall Sr. (born October 18, 1950) is an American politician.

Swindall was born in Gadsden, Alabama. He graduated from Briarcliff High School and with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) from the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1972 and also obtained his J.D. from the UGA School of Law in 1975.

He was a practicing lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia from 1975 until 1984 when he ran as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in Georgia's 4th congressional district. After winning election to the 99th Congress, Swindall was re-elected to the 100th Congress. He lost his bid for re-election to the 101st Congress in 1988.

In 1988, a federal grand jury indicted Swindall for perjury. The cloud of controversy surrounding the indictments, further enhanced by videotapes publicly circulated via the local news channels, doomed his previously safe re-election bid in 1988. His Democratic opponent, Ben Jones, achieved a 60% to 40% victory despite heavy Republican sentiment in the suburban district. Even had Swindall not gotten into legal trouble, changing demographics of the district would have made it very hard for him to keep his seat as it was then configured. DeKalb County, once the beneficiary of white flight from Atlanta, was now experiencing it as Republican voters were moving into farther-out suburban areas such as Gwinnett County, leaving older neighborhoods to incoming middle-class (and thus highly Democratic) African-American voters.

Swindall was later convicted of nine counts of perjury in 1992 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit reversed three of the nine counts of perjury. Swindall served one year in a Federal prison for the remaining six counts.

Upon his release from prison on February 9, 1995, Swindall hosted a religious-themed conservative radio show on the Providence Broadcasting Network. His show's motto was "Where religion and politics converge". When the Providence Broadcasting Network ceased operations, Swindall announced that he was going to "pursue a prison ministry". [1].

In June 2009, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Swindall and two businessmen for making illegal campaign contributions to Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd. It also indicted them for making false statements because their actions concealed that Swindall was the actual source of the contributions. The donations were reported on Sheperd’s campaign disclosure forms as coming from other people.

In November 2009, he was involved in a confrontation with tenants at a flea market location he had formerly leased; Swindall left after College Park code enforcement officers and police arrived.^[1]

Swindall is the owner of multiple businesses in Atlanta and College Park.

References

1. ^ Morris, Mike (2009-11-17). "Swindall attempts to oust flea market tenants". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/swindall-attempts-to-oust-201491.html. Retrieved 2009-11-17. 

• Pat Swindall at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Oral History Interview (Oct.1989) By Dr. Mel Steely, director: Georgia's Political Heritage Project; University of West Georgia, www.westga.edu.