Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has responded to two professional complaints lodged against him with the State Bar of Georgia by contending the grievances are “completely without merit.”

Ralston’s attorney James Balli—a member of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission—claims in a June 3 response to the complaints that “a small, disingenuous cabal” is attempting to exploit two women who filed the complaints and use bar disciplinary rules as a “procedural weapon” when “they really only care about attempting to cause political harm” to Ralston.