(PresidentialWire.com)- Georgia voting advocate Stacey Abrams is not out of the woods yet.
An ethics committee in Georgia said recently that it would be continuing its probe of “potential illegal campaign activities” by a group run by Abrams. The former Democratic gubernatorial nominee from 2018 runs the voter mobilization group.
The group, known as the New Georgia Project, was required to “comply with previously issued subpoenas” that were issued by the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission. The group appealed that decision from the Gwinnett County Superior Court, according to David Emadi, the group’s executive director.
The commission has accused the New Georgia Project of advocating for the election of Abrams in 2018 in her bid to unseat Republican Governor Brian Kemp “without registering as a campaign committee or filing disclosures showing how much it raised or spent.”
Emadi responded by writing to Just the News:
“The case remains in appeal at this time pending its next hearing on the matter.”
Because the litigation is still ongoing, Emadi said he couldn’t share any results of “any investigation thus far.”
In making his ruling, Judge Warren Davis cited various evidence the commission provided against the New Georgia Project as well as the Action Fund. The evidence showed the two sibling groups made expenditures and solicited contributions in order to promote not only Abrams but other candidates as well.
Some of the expenses included “canvassing activities, literature expressly advocating for the election of candidates, and operating field offices where these electioneering activities were coordinated.”
This whole time, officials at the New Georgia Project have tried to dismiss the claims. The CEO of the group, Nse Ufot, for example, said the investigation is “another continuation of a baseless partisan attack on a grassroots organization.”
The group made it a point to note that Emadi ended up donating $600 to Kemp’s campaign back in 2018. That despite the fact that he may face off against Kemp in the state’s gubernatorial election in 2022.
As Ufot tried to explain:
“There is nothing ethical about this partisan inquiry, and they should be ashamed.”
At a hearing in 2020, the New Georgia Project and officials from the commission sparred. The voter group said it turned over 4,000 documents so far “showing checks, wire transfers, bank records and campaign transactions.” The group accused the commission of fishing for unrelated documents and personal emails that they would use in other ways.
On the flip side, a lawyer for the state argued that the New Georgia Project as well as its action fund didn’t left out certain information from spending disclosures. This includes the fact that it sought donations, hired canvassers and also sent mass emails that supported Abrams in her run for governor.
The retort from Abrams’ side was those emails and activities don’t show “direct communications” that would suggest any illegal coordination.
Further, they claim the commission has to show “reasonable grounds to believe” that the group violated campaign finance laws if it wants to dig deeper beyond the preliminary investigation.
