Politics
Stacey Abrams-founded group settles case over illegal support for her campaign
A nonprofit founded by perennial candidate Stacey Abrams has settled a complaint with the Georgia Ethics Commission and will pay $300,000 to the state for illegally spending millions to bolster Abrams’ gubernatorial bid in 2018.
According to the consent order, which was made public on Wednesday following the ethics commission’s vote to approve it, the New Georgia Project and its fundraising arm, the New Georgia Project Action Fund, failed to disclose roughly $4.2 million in contributions and $3.2 million in expenditures that were used mostly to support Abrams during the 2018 primary and general election.
The order details 16 violations of state law, including the group’s failure to register as a political committee, failure to file a number of required disclosure reports, and failure to disclose millions of dollars in political contributions and expenditures. By agreeing to the consent order and by paying the $300,000 penalty, the New Georgia Project admits it broke the law, according to the order.
The consent order also details New Georgia Project’s involvement advocating for a ballot initiative in 2019 that would have expanded public transportation. That violation included more than $600,000 in contributions and $173,000 in expenditures.
David Emadi, executive director of Georgia’s ethics commission, said in a statement that the fine is the largest ever imposed by the commission and may be the largest fine by a state ethics board in a campaign finance case ever.
“While this fine is significant in scale, it is also appropriate given the scope of which state law was violated in this case,” Emadi said. “This represents the largest and most significant instance of an organization illegally influencing our statewide elections in Georgia that we have ever discovered, and I believe this sends a clear message to both the public and potential bad actors moving forward that we will hold you accountable.”
David Fox, who represented New Georgia Project at the hearing, said the agreement was a “reasonable resolution” for something that took place years ago, adding that the group is “eager to move forward.”
During the ethics commission’s meeting on Wednesday, Emadi presented social media posts, checks, canvassing and phone banking information as evidence of New Georgia Project’s and the action fund’s work to bolster Abrams in 2018. The presentation also showed routine overlap between the two groups.
The board unanimously approved the consent order.
The agreement brings to a close a yearslong investigation into the group’s activity dating back to 2019 that went to court a number of times. The ethics commission subpoenaed for the group’s bank records and revised its complaint in 2022 after the Georgia Court of Appeals approved access to the statements.
In another case, the New Georgia Project sought to block the ethics board’s probe, but in July 2024 the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a district court ruling that had initially halted the investigation.
A 2023 POLITICO investigation found the group’s former executive director — Nsé Ufot — owes the organization thousands of dollars in “non-work-related” reimbursements.
Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2014 as an offshoot of another nonprofit called Third Sector Development. Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock chaired the organization for more than two years, from when it first became an independent 501(c)3 in 2017 to January of 2020.
A spokesperson for Abrams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lawmakers said they are eager to delve into the fine print, though there is a high bar to overturning any final agreement…
Read More
Thune’s predecessor as GOP leader was hospitalized over the weekend without explanation…
Read More
President Donald Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement of Rep. Mike Collins early Sunday morning surprised even some of the Georgia Republican’s aides and advisers, who thought a tense White House meeting had all but ended his chances of securing the president’s support.
In that meeting just weeks earlier, Trump repeatedly raised Collins’ hardline stance on abortion, pressing him on how he could win in a general election for Georgia’s marquee Senate race, according to three people familiar with the meeting, granted anonymity to speak about the private discussions.
The late May sit-down was dominated by the issue of abortion, the people said. Those close to Collins walked away thinking that getting Trump’s endorsement was unlikely. One person close to the White House and familiar with the meeting said it was consistent with how the president typically works through key issues with potential endorsees before making a decision.
The interaction underscores how questions over electability are top of mind for the president this cycle, especially in a critical battleground, and as abortion remains a political vulnerability for the GOP.
Yet on Sunday, the president publicly backed Collins in the early hours of his 80th birthday in a post on Truth Social, upending the GOP Senate runoff in its closing days and delivering a blow to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s candidate of choice, former college football coach Derek Dooley.
Collins and Trump spoke shortly before the president issued his 1 a.m. endorsement, two people familiar with the call said. The post shocked some Collins aides, who woke up to the news.
Abortion has been a thorn in Trump’s side politically in recent years. He’s faced criticism from anti-abortion advocates for not doing enough to advance their agenda, while trying to avoid alienating the broader electorate on an issue that has proven to be political dynamite for Democrats in recent cycles.
As Republicans prepare for political headwinds in November, they are trying to avoid some of the electability problems that plagued some 2022 midterm campaigns — especially in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has since emerged as a formidable opponent.
During a 2022 debate for his current House seat, Collins said, “I have always stated and I’ve always been and always will be 100 percent pro-life, period. No exceptions,” a position that put him to the right of Trump on the politically potent issue of abortion.
But Collins represents a deep-red district. Running statewide, in a major battleground state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate in a decade, he’s shifted his position.
Asked recently on the campaign trail about his views on abortion, Collins said he supports “Georgia’s heartbeat law, which includes exceptions, 100 percent,” according to a video of the remarks obtained by Blue Light News. Georgia’s current abortion law bans the procedure in most cases after about six weeks — with exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.
Trump’s concerns about Collins’ strict stance were not unfounded. Polling shows large majorities of Americans oppose bans that include no exceptions for rape or incest.
The president’s reluctance to get off the sidelines in Georgia’s Senate runoff loomed over the contest for months. His backing has been a pivotal factor in other Republican primaries this cycle, often providing candidates with a decisive boost.
Both Collins and Dooley spent weeks jockeying for Trump’s support. The endorsement is expected to provide a late boost to Collins — though it arrived after early voting had already concluded and just days before the runoff, giving him less time to capitalize on it.
Conversations between Collins and the White House began the same night that he advanced to the runoff last month, according to a person familiar with the talks, granted anonymity to discuss private details at the time.
Collins had already lined up support from groups aligned with the president’s MAGA movement. Club for Growth PAC, the powerful GOP super PAC closely allied with Trump, backed Collins early in the primary. He also touted support from Turning Point Action and close allies of the president like Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.), a former top adviser.
Trump further reaffirmed his support for Collins in a tele-rally late Monday afternoon from France, where he had arrived ahead of his meetings at the G7.
“Mike is a special guy, a special congressman, a special person, and so I’d like to have everybody go out and get out and vote for this man. We love Georgia, you know,” Trump said, pivoting to swipe at Dooley for not voting in 2016 or 2020, and for making a comment in which he correctly said that Trump lost the 2020 election in Georgia.
“He said he didn’t think I won the election in 2020, and I won it by a lot,” Trump falsely claimed.
Dooley and Kemp, asked about the president’s endorsements in a Monday morning press conference, both demurred. “A vote for Mike Collins is a vote for Jon Ossoff. A vote for me is a vote for the people of Georgia,” Dooley said.
- Senate Republicans want a say on Trump’s Iran deal
- Thune is ‘hopeful’ Mitch McConnell will return this week
- Trump questioned Mike Collins about his hardline abortion stance before endorsing him
- RFK Jr. is popping up in battleground districts
- We’re about to find out how powerful Brian Kemp really is with Georgia Republicans
- Supreme Court declines to hear gun industry challenge to NY law
- Lawmakers caution Burgum, NPS they have ‘no power to build’ Trump’s arch
- Trump says $300B fund to rebuild Iran is ‘Fake News’
- Green algae return to reflecting pool days into Trump’s renovation
- They’ll call everyone else a Nazi, but the media aren’t sure about the Nazi tattoo guy
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship9 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words