Category: Georgia

Senator Raphael Warnock Asks Atlanta to be Lenient on Petitions to Stop Public Safety Training Center

Tom Pappert

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) wrote a letter to the City of Atlanta on Friday asking officials to be lenient when examining the petitions gathered to force a public referendum on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

In his letter, Warnock reportedly advised Atlanta he is “closely monitoring” the petition, and claimed to be “concerned” the city’s signature matching and verification process “led to discrimination” and potential “disenfranchisement of eligible voters” during previous ballot initiatives. Warnock urged Atlanta “to err on the side of giving the people the ability to express their views” and to establish “clear and transparent timelines and requirements” going forward.

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Pro-Trump Lawyer Gives Court Transcript He Claims Proves Georgia’s GOP Electors Broke No Laws

Tom Pappert

A transcript of a December 2020 meeting among those who became the Republican slate of alternative electors in Georgia appears to directly contradict claims levied by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her August indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others involved with his efforts to contest the 2020 election.

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who is among those indicted in the Georgia racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, submitted the transcript to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAffee in a filing that seeks to dismiss charges related Republican slate of alternative electors.

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Georgia’s Infant Mortality Rate Remains Among the Nation’s Worst

The Center Square

Georgia’s infant mortality rate may be improving, but it remains among the worst.

“The infant mortality rate in Georgia is not good,” Seema Csukas, vice president & chief medical officer at CareSource Georgia, told The Center Square. “We’re typically in the bottom quartile of states in terms of the infant mortality rate. We’ve made a little progress over the past decade, but not really. We’ve gotten a little better, then gotten a little worse — so not that much change.

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Nearly Four in 10 Georgians Out of the Workforce

The Center Square

While state officials continue to tout the state’s low unemployment, numbers show nearly 39% percent of Georgia’s working-age population isn’t participating in the workforce.

On Thursday, state officials said Georgia’s August unemployment rate was 3.3%, a slight increase from July’s revised 3.2% rate. The state’s rate is lower than the 3.8% national unemployment rate.

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Georgia Election Integrity Expert Confounds Bar Attorney in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former 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, ended on Friday, featuring more testimony by Garland Favorito, co-founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA). Favorito, a retired IT professional with extensive experience with electronic voting machines and investigating election fraud in Georgia, underwent cross-examination by State Bar of California attorney Duncan Carling, frequently thwarting his questions.

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Majority of Georgia Voters Say Trump Prosecution Unfair, Support Special Session to Reign in Fulton County

Tom Pappert

A majority of Georgia voters now believe the Fulton County criminal case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election is “unfair,” according to new polling by Rasmussen Reports. Georgia voters also support a special session in the Georgia Legislature to defund or impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The majority of Georgia voters believe Trump is being unfairly prosecuted, with 56 percent of respondents to Rasmussen agreeing, including 39 percent who said it was “very likely.” This is compared with just 37 percent of voters who said it was unlikely Trump was being unfairly prosecuted.

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis Announces $2.5 Million Federal Grant to Examine Backlog of 4,300 Rape Kits

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has received a $2.5 million federal grant for her office to examine a backlog of more than 4,000 rape kits, with some dating back to the 1980s, she revealed in a press conference this week.

Willis announced the $2.5 million grant in a press conference on Thursday, when she said the funding will support testing for the rape kits of “4,342 victims” who “had the very worst day of their life” but “didn’t get justice” from Fulton County.

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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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40,000 Fulton County Criminal Cases ‘Frozen’ Because Fani Willis ‘Blindly’ Pursuing Trump, Says Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler

Tom Pappert

During an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show” on Thursday, former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler said the criminal justice system of Fulton County is “frozen,” with the county jail overcrowded and 40,000 criminal cases in the backlog, because District Attorney Fani Willis is “blindly” pursuing her cases against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election.

Loeffler told host John Fredericks, the publisher of The Georgia Star News, that Willis’s actions suggest “a two tiered system of justice” and said the Georgia Legislature should encourage the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC) to fully investigate Willis, including how she is spending taxpayer money.

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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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Georgia Trump Case Severed from Powell, Chesebro in First Major Blow to Fani Willis

Tom Pappert

The criminal case in Fulton County, Georgia against lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell was severed from the greater indictment against former President Donald Trump and the other 17 defendants on Thursday morning, representing the first major blow to District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee received arguments from Willis and the defendants on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning ultimately determined it was “a procedural and logistical inevitability” to sever the cases. McAfee also wrote that “[a]dditional divisions of these 17 defendants may well be required” as the trial proceeds.

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One Trial with 19 Defendants Only ‘Feasible’ Option to Prosecute Georgia Trump Case, Fani Willis Claims

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis claimed the only “feasible” way to prosecute former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants is in one, unified case on Wednesday. Willis said separating the cases, as multiple defendants have requested, would “create an enormous strain” for Fulton County.

Willis, in a legal filing submitted with colleagues F. McDonald Wakeford and Alex Bernick, argued to preserve the case against Trump and the other defendants who helped him contest the 2020 election. The filing was submitted to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday.

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Judge Denies Mark Meadows’ Latest Effort to Remove Georgia Election Case from Fulton County

Tom Pappert

U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones denied the latest effort for Mark Meadows on Wednesday to remove the Georgia election case against him from Fulton County. The case against Meadows, former President Donald Trump, and 18 other defendants will proceed unless the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit intervenes.

Attorneys for Meadows argued last month that any actions taken by the former White House Chief of Staff for the Trump administration to contest the 2020 election results were part of his official role as a government employee. Thus, the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and other laws require the case against him to be tried in federal court and not in Fulton County.

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Georgia State Sen. Beach Slams ‘Concentration Camp’ Overcrowding in Fulton County Jail, Blames Fani Willis

Tom Pappert

Georgia State Senator Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) compared the conditions of the Fulton County Jail to a “concentration camp,” pointing to the 10 deaths at the facility so far this year, and the facility’s overcrowding, as evidence that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is not doing her job.

Beach condemned Willis during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show” on Tuesday, suggesting that Willis is “obsessed” with prosecuting former President Donald Trump “for her own political gain.”

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Fulton County Special Prosecutor’s Law Firm Earns Nearly $550,000 in Trump Case, so Far

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has spent nearly $550,000 bankrolling defense lawyer Nathan Wade as special prosecutor in her case against former President Donald Trump and 18 of his current or former associates who helped him contest the 2020 election in Georgia.

Records made available by the Fulton County government reveals that the Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade earned $303,226.51 in 2022, and thus far in 2023 has earned an additional $245,750. Similarly, his legal partner Christopher Campbell has received $116,670 from Fulton County between 2021 and 2023, while former colleague Terrence Bradley was paid $74,480 by Fulton County in 2021 and 2022.

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Activists Turn in Petition to Force Vote on Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Just Days after RICO Case Unveiled

Tom Pappert

Activists seeking to challenge the construction of the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center claim to have turned in more than 115,000 petition signatures on Monday, three weeks after the City of Atlanta required signature gathering to conclude. The city has accepted the signatures, but will not examine them without a ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Originally given until August 21 to return at least 58,232 valid signatures, a legal ruling on July 26 gave the activists an additional 60 days, and stripped a requirement for those gathering the signatures to be residents of Atlanta. However, a stay was issued freezing that ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 1, meaning the additional time granted to activists may have disappeared.

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Georgia Activists Knock on Doors in Republican Strongholds to Fuel Special Session Push

Tom Pappert

Conservative activists in Georgia are knocking on doors in the districts of House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) and senators who have vocally opposed the petition for a special session created by Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton), according to Georgia State Freedom Caucus Director Mallory Staples, with the aim of pressuring more legislators into backing the nascent effort.

Staples announced the plans to door knock on “The John Fredericks Show” last Friday, indicating the activists planned to start on Monday, and will target the most vocal opponents of Moore’s petition for a special session.

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Faith and Freedom Coalition Identifies Key Issues for Evangelical, Conservative Voters in 2024

Tom Pappert

Faith & Freedom Coalition executive director Timothy Head outlined what he believes are the key issues for faith-based voters in the state as the second Republican presidential debate, and the 2024 presidential election, in an interview with The Georgia Star News on Friday.

Head told The Georgia Star News that Fulton County’s racketeering case against former President Donald Trump looms large over Georgia’s political landscape, likely drawing even more Republicans in The Peach State to the former president, but added that the economy will likely be the single, largest issue in voters’ minds as they cast ballots in 2024.

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Hospital System in Georgia Replaces Christmas Eve with Juneteenth on Paid Holiday Calendar

Kaitlin Housler

Emory Healthcare replaced Christmas Eve with Juneteenth on the paid holiday calendar for employees last week, according to a memo from the hospital’s CEO, Joon S. Lee.

The healthcare system, which displays “We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion” on its website as one of its values, is the largest in the Peach State, with more than 425 provider locations and 24,000 employees.

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Trump Questions ‘Credibility’ of Fulton County After Grand Jury Recommended Charges for Lt. Gov. Jones, Former Georgia Senators

Tom Pappert

Former President Donald Trump released a statement expressing further doubts in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and her office, after the grand jury report for the racketeering case against him was made public. The report revealed that, in addition to the 19 charged by Willis, charges were recommended for additional 20 people, including Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones, former Republican Georgia Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Trump wrote that the grand jury report has “zero credibility and badly taints” Willis, and her case against him, in a post on Truth Social. The report, according to Trump, “undermines the credibility of the findings, and badly hurts the Great State of Georgia.”

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State Sen. Moore Defends Special Session Push, Plans to Rally Georgia Voters Against Senators ‘Sitting on the Sidelines’

Tom Pappert

Georgia State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) joined “The John Fredericks Show” on Wednesday to defend his push for a special session in the Georgia Legislature to defund or impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and confronted accusations of grifting by announcing plans to spend money raised on the special session in the districts of legislators who are outspoken in their opposition to the special session.

Moore, who has used the press generated by Trump’s arrest and his special session petition for fundraising, said he intends to use the money to challenge Republican critics of the petition by sending text messages to voters in their districts.

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Tea Party Patriots’ Jenny Beth Martin Rallies with State Senator Colton Moore to Back Special Session in Georgia

Tom Pappert

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin joined members of the Georgia Freedom Caucus on Thursday, including State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) and State Representative Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock), for a rally and press conference in support of Moore’s petition calling for Governor Brian Kemp (R) to call a special session to defund or impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

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Fani Willis to Call 150 Witnesses over Four Month Trial in Georgia RICO Case Against Trump, Allies

Tom Pappert

Wednesday marked the first, live-streamed hearing in Fulton County’s racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants who aided his 2020 election contest, and prosecutors revealed that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis intends to call 150 witnesses over a four-month trial slated to begin on October 23.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee originally planned for the hearing to include arraignments, but all 19 defendants waived their right to arraignment and entered not guilty pleas before the court appearance. Instead, Judge McAfee heard attorneys for Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro invoke their clients’ rights to a speedy trial, specifically requesting to be severed from each other and the other defendants in the case.

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Judge Restores Georgia Law Banning Transgender Hormone Treatments for Minors

Tom Pappert

A federal judge has restored a Georgia law banning transgender hormone treatments for minors in the state on Tuesday after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar Alabama law.

Georgia’s Republican-backed SB 140 bans licensed medical professionals from providing minor patients with cross-sex hormone therapy, with potential criminal and civil penalties for healthcare providers found flaunting the law. Though the law went into effect in July, a legal challenge brought in June ultimately allowed U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty to block its enforcement beginning on October 20.

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Georgia Charges 61 People with RICO Indictment over Atlanta Public Training Center Protests

Tom Pappert

More than 60 people have been indicted by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) as part of an alleged criminal conspiracy related to protests of Atlanta’s new Public Safety Training Center.

Public officials confirmed that 61 individuals were indicted as part of a racketeering case tied to the protests on Tuesday, and charging documents claim an organized criminal effort to derail the police and public safety training facility began as early as 2020. The case will be prosecuted by Carr using the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

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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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Report: Fani Willis Has Transcript Exonerating Former Trump Lawyer Ray Smith, Former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer

Tom Pappert
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is reportedly in possession of a meeting transcript that exonerates two defendants named in her August 14 indictment against former President Donald Trump, his former lawyers, and Georgians involved in his effort to contest the 2020 presidential election.

A transcript of a December 14, 2020 meeting of those involved in the effort to create alternative Trump delegates in Georgia for the 2020 election, reviewed by The Federalist, reveals that Shafer and former Trump attorney Ray Smith specifically planned to act as “Republican nominees for Presidential Elector,” and not “duly elected and qualified” electors, in what seems to be a direct contradiction to Willis’s indictment.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Rejects Calls to Dismiss Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Admin

On Thursday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) said at a press conference that he would not support efforts to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from office following her indictment of President Donald Trump.

As reported by Breitbart, Kemp referred to such efforts as “political theater,” after a Republican state senator had already vowed to take action against Willis. Willis’ indictment included 41 different charges against President Trump and 18 campaign surrogates, lawyers, and other prominent allies.

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Trump Pleads Not Guilty in Georgia Election Case After Waiving Arraignment

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 13 felony charges related to his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, and he waived his right to appear in court in Fulton County next week.

Trump was scheduled to be arraigned in Georgia on Sept. 6 alongside 18 co-defendants on charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, as well as charges of making false statements and soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office, among other things.

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Giuliani Loses Georgia Election Workers’ Defamation Lawsuit by Default

Just the News

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani lost by default Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers and a judge imposed sanctions on him in the case. 

In a scathing 57-page ruling, federal Judge Beryl Howell criticized Giuliani for not producing evidence as required for the case filed by election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, resulting in the default loss.

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Commission Chair: Georgia CON Laws ‘Intended to Stifle Competition’

The Center Square

When officials in Lee County tried to build “a small acute care hospital” with 60 beds and four operating rooms, it began a multi-year process that cost millions of dollars and didn’t end with the construction of a facility.

“When we started our quest to build a hospital, we knew that it was going to be an uphill battle,” Billy Mathis, the Lee County Commission chairman, told lawmakers during a Senate Study Committee on Certificate of Need Reform hearing on Monday. “For the first couple of years, after you are granted a certificate of need, you fight litigation. The code in Georgia encourages litigation, basically. So, you get your certificate of need, and then all sorts of folks sue you — to put it very plainly.”

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Georgia State Senators Spar on Special Session over Trump Indictment

The Center Square

While one Georgia state senator wants a special session to potentially act on the district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump, another says it’s impossible.

Last week, State Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, sent a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, calling for a special session “for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis.”

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