Tag: Georgia

Testimony from Georgia Election Integrity Expert Continues in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The fifth week of the disbarment trial of former President Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, is winding down with direct and cross-examination of Garland Favorito, co-founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA), who has extensive experience with electronic voting machines and investigating election fraud in Georgia. The State Bar of Georgia is trying to prove that Eastman gave Trump advice when he suggested that one option after the 2020 presidential election would be to have Vice President Mike Pence refuse to accept electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud or delay the certification.

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Georgia Election Fraud Expert Testifies at Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman, Casts Doubt on Biden’s Win

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman continued on Tuesday, into its fifth week. Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller questioned expert witness Garland Favorito, co-founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA), who has extensive experience with electronic voting machines and investigating election fraud in Georgia.

A former trial lawyer and evidence professor told The Arizona Sun Times that he thinks California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland’s actions in the trial are so egregious that even the California Supreme Court — which is composed of all Democrats — may not uphold a disbarment. Instead, he thinks the court might issue a reprimand or some smaller amount of discipline. While serving on the bench, Roland donated to Democrats including California Governor Gavin Newsom.

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Biden’s New Georgia Ad Makes Questionable Claims on Supply Chains, Drug, and Utility Prices

Tom Pappert

President Joe Biden unveiled a new advertisement in Georgia this week, making bold claims about the accomplishments of his administration. However, the president’s claims to have addressed the supply chain crisis and lowered the prices of drugs and utilities may not stand up to scrutiny.

In the 30-second video, a narrator claims Biden “got to work” by “fixing the supply chains, fighting corporate greed, passing laws to lower the cost of medicine, cut utility bills, and make us more energy independent.” However, recent reporting reveals the supply chain crisis continued as recently as May, utility bills rose over last year, and the costs of most drugs increased in January.

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Governor Hobbs Says She ‘Absolutely’ Wants Arizona to Charge Trump over 2020 Election Contest; Her Office Later Claimed She ‘Misunderstood’ the Question

Tom Pappert

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said she “absolutely” hopes former President Donald Trump will be criminally charged for his actions while contesting the 2020 election results in Arizona.

Hobbs said she would “absolutely” like to see Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes bring new charges against Trump that mirror those in Georgia, telling local media that such charges would hold those who contested the election “accountable” for their actions.

Hobbs said she would “absolutely” like to see Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes bring new charges against Trump that mirror those in Georgia, telling local media that such charges would hold those who contested the election “accountable” for their actions.

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The 2024 Election Could Come Down to These Four States

Admin

The upcoming presidential election could potentially come down to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, according to the Sabato’s Crystal Ball 2024 Electoral College predictions released Thursday.

The nonpartisan report, facilitated by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, labels the four states as “toss-ups” based on the 2020 election and 2022 midterms. The 2024 landscape slightly favors the Democrats and will likely be another matchup between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, according to the report.

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State Bar of California Begins Trial to Disbar Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Over 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The State Bar of California (SBC) began a trial on Tuesday seeking to disbar conservative legal scholar John Eastman over his role advising former President Donald Trump and state legislatures on challenging the 2020 election results. The proceedings arose out of a complaint against him made by the States United Democracy Center (SUDC). SUDC is run by a former Obama appointee, Norm Eisen, and its advisory board includes former Arizona governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The SBC charged Eastman with 11 ethics violations in January. Eastman filed a 100-page response containing thousands of attachments, and published a rebuttal on his Substack. He said the SBC’s complaint “is filled with distortions, half truths, and outright falsehoods.”

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Nearly Half of U.S. States Now Have Measures Limiting Transgender Surgery for Minors, but Lawsuits Abound

Admin

At least 20 states have either restricted or banned transgender procedures for minors, with many of them facing lawsuits and temporary blocks by courts as a result, while future litigation is possible in states considering adopting such laws. 

The states that have enacted legislation against such procedures are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – essentially all conservative-leaning.

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Georgia GOP Convention Replaces Mike Pence with Kari Lake

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake will be the keynote speaker at the Georgia Republican Party’s annual convention, replacing Mike Pence who was originally scheduled. Former President Donald Trump will also be speaking at the convention. The state party Chair David Shafer sent an email to delegates stating that Pence canceled “because of a televised national town hall at which he will be making an announcement regarding his future plans.”

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DeSantis Enters Presidential Race with ‘Skewed’ Narrative He’s Better Positioned to Beat Biden than Trump

M.D. Kittle

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially launched his presidential campaign Wednesday, ending months of speculation and ratcheting up what promises to be an intense battle for the Republican Party nomination. 

DeSantis enters the race as a top tier candidate, but still lagging far behind frontrunner Donald Trump, according to just about every poll out there. 

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Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Foils Democrats’ ‘Diverse’ Primary Plans

M.D. Kittle

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set the Peach State’s 2024 party primary elections for March 12, foiling the Democratic National Committee’s plans to move Georgia’s vote toward the front of the presidential nominating line.

Raffensperger says the DNC acted “unilaterally” in its bid to make their nominating process more “diverse” by bumping predominantly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire back and pushing more “racially inclusive” states like Georgia and Michigan to the front of the primary line. 

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More Questions Surround POS Poll Showing DeSantis Faring Better than Trump in Georgia

M.D. Kittle

The latest Public Opinion Strategies (POS) poll shows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis outpacing former President Donald Trump in battleground Florida — at least in a head-to-head matchup with President Joe Biden. 

But the POS poll once again underrepresents traditional Trump voters in its latest quest to spin DeSantis as more electable than the Republican Party presidential nomination frontrunner, a top pollster tells The Georgia Star News. 

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Trump Dominates Latest Georgia Poll of Republican Presidential Candidates

M.D. Kittle

Former President Donald Trump only seems to be getting politically stronger since his arrest in Manhattan earlier this month — at least in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase. 

The opening poll of the 2024 campaign season by the University of Georgia School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA) shows Trump with a huge double-digit lead over his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (50.7% to 29.8%).

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Georgia Gas Tax Moratorium Ends, Rises to 31.2 Cents

Eric Burk

Governor Brian Kemp allowed Georgia’s moratorium on state gas and diesel taxes to expire on Tuesday night, after first introducing the moratorium in May and renewing it six times since then.

In 2022, Georgia’s gas tax was 29.1 cents and the diesel tax at 32.6 cents, but that’s going up on Wednesday to 31.2 cents and 35 cents, respectively. As of January 10, before the taxes took effect, Georgia’s average gas price was $2.808, below the national average of $3.270, according to AAA Gas Prices.

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Georgia’s Tax Revenues Decreased by $2.4 Million in November

The Center Square

One day after Republican leaders called on returning more than $1 billion to Georgia taxpayers, the state revealed some bad news.

On Friday, state officials reported November’s total general fund receipts decreased by 0.1% — or nearly $2.4 million — compared to November 2021. Still, tax collections surpassed $2.2 billion for the month and net sales and use tax collections increased by 9.8%.

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Critics Say Georgia’s Gas Tax Moratorium Helps, but Isn’t Good Long-Term Policy

The Center Square
Gas Station

Georgia hasn’t collected its gas tax since March, as Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a series of legislation and executive orders to place a moratorium on collections.

“Those prices have a huge impact on the economy as a whole,” National Federation of Independent Business Region Director Nathan Humphrey told The Center Square. “On top of all the other issues that small businesses were particularly struggling with from supply chain, inflation and [the] overall cost of doing business, the margins were just super tight, so when that hit, it really provided necessary relief.”

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Report: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia

The Center Square

More Georgia students are attending charter schools, while enrollment at public schools is declining, according to a new report.

New figures from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools show that Georgia experienced a roughly 4.9% increase in charter enrollments between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Meanwhile, traditional public schools saw a roughly 1.9% decline in enrollments during the same period.

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Georgia, Other States Settle Smartphone Ad Case with Google, iHeartMedia

The Center Square
Smart Phone Filled with Apps

Georgia is set to receive nearly $1.2 million following a settlement with Google and iHeartMedia over a series of ads with “allegedly false endorsements” of the Google Pixel 4 smartphone.

According to a news release, in 2019, Google contracted iHeartMedia to record pro-Pixel 4 ads. However, the purported testimonials in the ads were from people who had not previously owned or used the Pixel 4 phone.

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Georgia Awards $39.4 Million in Grants to Courts to Clear Up COVID-Related Case Backlogs

The Center Square

The state has awarded $39.4 million in grants aimed at helping more than three dozen judicial circuits to clear case backlogs.

The Judicial Council of Georgia Ad Hoc Committee announced the grants, funded by federal American Rescue Plan money, to circuits that applied. These awards for the 2023 calendar year are part of the Judicial Council’s ARPA grant program’s second year.

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Auto Parts Manufacturer Planning $317 Million Investment in Georgia to Supply Hyundai Electric Vehicle Plant

The Center Square

An automotive parts manufacturer is planning to spend $317 million on a new manufacturing facility near Statesboro, but state officials won’t say how much of the bill taxpayers will have to cover.

Joon Georgia Inc. plans to create 630 new jobs at Bulloch County’s Bruce Yawn Commerce Park, previously named the Southern Gateway Commerce Park. State officials touted the news as “the first confirmed supplier” for Hyundai Motor Group’s new Bryan County facility.

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Despite Legal Battle, $5 Billion Rivian Electric Vehicle Plant Still in Progress for Georgia

The Center Square

 Work on electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive’s $5 billion plant will progress as planned despite an ongoing legal fight, officials confirmed to The Center Square.

Site grading began in the early fall, and the judge’s ruling does not affect progress on development, Marie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, told The Center Square. However, Gordon deferred to a representative of a public affairs agency to answer more substantive questions about the project.

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Georgia Unemployment Rates Drop in September

The Center Square

Georgia’s Regional Commissions saw a drop in their unemployment rates in September, officials said.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September stood at 2.8% for the third consecutive month. The rate is down slightly from 3.2% in January and from 3.5% in September 2021. 

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Regional Commission’s preliminary non-seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.6%. That is down from 3% a month ago and 3.5% a year ago.

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Report: Georgia Has One of the Nation’s Best Improvements in Its Unemployment Rate

The Center Square

Georgia reported one of the best changes in its unemployment rate of any state in the union, a new analysis found.

According to the report from WalletHub, Georgia has the 15th best change in unemployment. That trailed neighboring Florida (No. 6) and Alabama (12) but was better than South Carolina (28), Tennessee (32) and North Carolina (35).

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Georgia’s Kemp Receives B Grade for Fiscal and Tax Policies

The Center Square

The Cato Institute gave Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp a B on its 2022 Fiscal Policy Report Card of governors, citing his tax cuts as a reason for the grade.

The libertarian think tank also gave Kemp, a Republican, a B on its 2020 report card. The analysis grades governors on their fiscal policies from a limited-government viewpoint; the higher the grade, the more a governor has cut taxes and spending.

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Georgia Attorney General Candidates Offer Differing Solutions for Increasing Crime

The Center Square

A new report from WalletHub found that Atlanta experienced the 38th highest increase in the homicide rate of the 50 largest cities in the country.

The topic of crime in the state was a hot topic during this week’s Atlanta Press Club debate of the attorney general candidates: incumbent Republican Attorney General Chris Carr, Libertarian Martin Cowan and Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta.

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Midterm Election in Georgia Sees Record Numbers as Early Voting Commences

The Center Square

Georgia saw a record number of voters turn out for a midterm election, state officials said.

As of Tuesday, 143,077 voters have cast ballots in Georgia — 131,318 voted early in person, while 11,759 voted via an absentee ballot. The number of in-person voters is an 85% increase from the 70,849 voters who cast ballots in person on the first day of early voting in the 2018 midterm election.

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Warnock, Walker Square Off in Georgia Senate Debate

Just the News

Incumbent Georgia Republican Sen. Raphael Warnock squared off against his Republican challenger, former football star Herschel Walker in a Friday debate.

Inflation opened the debate. Walker attributed the rise in consumer prices to the Biden administration’s spending plans. He further proposed pursuing energy independence as a solution to both the nation’s economic and national security woes. He declined to back cuts to military spending when asked. “We have to be ready for war. This is not a playground,” he said.

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Georgia Says It Awarded $104.7 Million in Road Projects, but $93 Million Deferred

The Center Square

The Georgia Department of Transportation said it awarded seven projects valued at more than $104.7 million in August.

However, the awards list the agency provided indicates that the state only awarded about $12.1 million in projects. A GDOT spokesman said officials deferred a pair of widening and reconstruction projects worth roughly $93 million and expect to award them later.

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Herschel Walker Down 12 Points in Latest Georgia Senate Poll

Admin

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker trails incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia by double digits amidst a scandal over him allegedly paying for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, per a new poll released on Wednesday.

Walker polled 38% support compared to 50% for Warnock, according to SurveyUSA, which conducted the poll for 11Alive News in Atlanta. Should Warnock gain even one vote more than 50% in November’s election, it would be enough to beat Walker outright and avoid a runoff election against him later in the year.

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Georgia’s $6.5 Billion in Film Subsidies Add Up to $416K per Each New Industry Job

The Center Square

Georgia officials pride themselves on the state’s tax credits for the movie industry, but a leading economist says the tax credits don’t benefit the state.

“There’s nothing politicians love more than jocks and movie stars,” Kennesaw State University economist J.C. Bradbury told The Center Square. “That’s why they give out a lot of subsidies for sports stadiums, and film and movie credits are also something that are often given out.

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Georgia’s $130 Million Plan for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Receives Federal Approval

The Center Square

The Federal Highway Administration has signed off on Georgia’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, opening the door to millions in federal taxpayer dollars for the state.

With this approval, the Georgia Department of Transportation can start planning how the state will spend roughly $130 million to pay for electric vehicle charging infrastructure over the next five years.

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