Georgia
Pro-Stacey Abrams groups to pay record fine for breaking Georgia campaign finance law
Stacey Abrams, Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, gives a concession speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Ben Gray/AP
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Ben Gray/AP
ATLANTA — The Georgia Ethics Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to fine two advocacy groups that were founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams and led by Raphael Warnock before voters elected him to the U.S. Senate.
The commission found that the New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund illegally did election work for Abrams and others without disclosing their campaign contributions and spending.
The groups’ current leadership admitted 16 instances of illegal activity in a consent decree and will pay a $300,000 fine, the largest in state history according to the commission’s director, David Emadi.
The commission found that the entities raised $4.2 million and spent $3.2 million to support Abrams and other candidates in the 2018 election cycle.
David Fox, a lawyer for the New Georgia Project and the action fund, said his clients “understand and respect the commission’s positions on the facts and the law.
“The matter relates to events from more than five years ago, and respondents are eager to put the matter behind them,” Fox told commissioners by video.
Where ethics officials ruled the groups went wrong was failing to register as an independent campaign committee before taking contributions for electioneering, and failing to file campaign finance reports of contributions and spending before Abrams narrowly lost the governor’s race to Republican Brian Kemp that year.
The groups repeated the same illegal activity in 2019 when they campaigned to extend public transportation in suburban Gwinnett County, failing to disclose $646,000 in contributions and $174,000 in spending for a voter referendum to join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The referendum lost.
Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to register more nonwhite and young voters in Georgia and to urge them to turn out. The project is a charity that can accept tax-deductible donations. The New Georgia Project Action Fund is a nonprofit social welfare organization that can directly endorse candidates, although donations aren’t tax deductible. Neither group normally has to disclose donors. Emadi said the groups are likely to now file campaign finance disclosures for the period in question.
Abrams stepped down in 2017 and said she had no role with the groups thereafter. Warnock, a close Abrams ally and Baptist minister, was listed as the New Georgia Project’s CEO on corporate filings in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
“I’m not prepared to say he had direct involvement in this,” Emadi said. “I didn’t personally find evidence of that.”
Michael Brewer, a spokesperson for Warnock’s Senate office, said Warnock was working “as a longtime champion for voting rights” and didn’t know anything about violations. “Compliance decisions were not a part of that work,” Brewer wrote in an email.
The complaint was filed in 2019 and survived multiple court challenges, accessing emails in an effort to prove the groups improperly coordinated with Abrams’ 2018 campaign. Wednesday’s consent decree contains no such findings, but Emadi said a separate complaint alleging illegal coordination remains under investigation.
Lawyers for the New Georgia Project previously argued that the groups acted like other nonprofits and that Republicans including Emadi, who had donated to Kemp, were using their majority on the commission in a partisan witch hunt to damage Abrams’ political viability.
Abrams lost the 2022 governor’s race to Kemp by a much larger margin than in 2018, but the ethics case was little discussed.
The commission fined another group, Gente4Abrams, $50,000 in 2020 for failing to register and file reports on $240,000 it spent to help Abrams in the 2018 Democratic primary, the commission found. The group registered after the commission ruling, reporting it spent an additional $685,000 for Abrams in the 2018 general election.
Ethics Commissioner Rick Thompson, who was formerly the commission’s top employee, lauded commission staff and said he wished criminal penalties and not just civil ones were available under state law.
“I think actions like this should be criminal because of the significant impact secret money can have on elections,” Thompson said. “Organizations attempting to keep their election spending secret is shameful and does a disservice to our elections and voters.”
ATLANTA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University Hospital are monitoring two Georgia residents following a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that resulted in three deaths.
Atlanta hospital monitoring
What we know:
A couple returned to Georgia last week and was moved Monday to Emory University Hospital for specialized monitoring. One of the passengers showed mild symptoms of the virus but has since tested negative. Both individuals were passengers on the MV Hondius, a ship where the Andes variant of hantavirus was identified.
The CDC confirmed the patients are being kept in a biocontainment unit designed for highly infectious diseases. Doctors at Emory said one individual is receiving treatment while the other is being monitored, though they emphasize there is no risk to the general public.
Monitoring and travel status
What we don’t know:
Health officials have not confirmed if the passengers will be cleared to leave the hospital or return home before a 42-day period is over. While one test was negative, authorities have not said how many additional tests or how much more observation time is needed before the couple is fully cleared. The exact names and ages of the Georgia residents have not been released due to privacy concerns.
Cruise ship outbreak
The backstory:
The outbreak began in April on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius during a voyage from Argentina. Nine cases have been confirmed and three people died after the virus spread, likely through human-to-human transmission of the Andes strain. This specific strain is known for causing Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a severe respiratory illness.
Low public risk
Big picture view:
While the Andes variant is serious, the CDC and World Health Organization assess the risk to the general public as low. The virus typically spreads through close contact with bodily fluids or respiration rather than everyday social contact. Federal and state health departments are using established protocols to manage the repatriation and monitoring of the 18 Americans who were on the ship.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from FOX 5 reporter Kevyn Stewart, who attended a news conference with the CDC and Emory University Hospital, as well as official statements from the Georgia Department of Public Health and the World Health Organization.
Georgia and Florida State appear to be honoring their word in that they will end up playing each other.
According to Brett McMurphy of On3, Florida State athletic director Mike Alford has said Georgia and Florida State will play at a neutral site game in 2028.
While Georgia has not yet commented on the news, Alford also revealed that there are seven possible neutral venues they are eyeing for the game.
Those venues are Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte and New Orleans.
With the exception of Orlando, Georgia has some history — or a future game — with all of the possible venues.
Below, we rank the possible venues from Georgia’s perspective as to where the game could be played.
Georgia-Florida State possible neutral site games
- Atlanta: The most obvious choice from a Georgia perspective. The Bulldogs have consistently played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, including neutral site games against North Carolina, Oregon, Clemson and Georgia Tech. The 2028 game was set to be a Georgia home game, so making the short trip to Atlanta could be a reasonable consolation.
- Charlotte: Of the non-Atlanta options, this one is the closest to Athens. Georgia has history in this venue, as it beat Clemson to open the 2021 season in the venue. This option may not be high on Florida State’s list of preferences for the game.
- New Orleans: Georgia does not have a great recent history in this building, as its last two seasons have ended in the Caesars Superdome. One thing worth noting is that this game will be played early in the season, possibly in Week 0. New Orleans, Atlanta and Nashville are the only stadiums with Dome options, which could be beneficial with the heat.
- Nashville: What makes Nashville’s inclusion on this list interesting is that the Tennessee Titans will have opened up their new stadium in 2027, giving Nashville a state-of-the-art facility. This stadium will also be enclosed, providing shelter against the heat. Working against this selection is that Georgia is already scheduled to make one trip to Vanderbilt in 2028, as Georgia faces Vanderbilt in Nashville that season.
- Orlando: In terms of possible stadiums, Orlando is at the bottom. Georgia also already has one neutral site game scheduled to be played in Florida in 2028, as the Bulldogs will take on Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Maybe a possible weekend at Disney could excite some fans about this possible venue.
- Miami: The last time these two met was in Miami, with Georgia rolling to a 63-3 win. Florida State has played Miami on an annual basis as it is one of the biggest games in the conference. Florida State has played at Miami in even years, which would be the case in 2028.
- Tampa: Georgia will make a trip to Tampa in 2027, when the Bulldogs take on the rival Florida Gators in their annual rivalry game. SEC media days will be in Tampa in 2026.
GEORGIA, I have a question,
Am I wrong in believing that babies do not belong at wineries, breweries, festivals, and other adult spaces? I know this is going to make people angry, but I finally snapped this weekend.
My husband and I went to a local winery for a relaxing afternoon. This place literally advertises itself as a quiet adults’ getaway. Wine tastings, acoustic music, people sitting around talking. It is not Pizza Ranch.
About twenty minutes after we sat down, a couple showed up with a baby that looked maybe 8 months old. The second they sat down, the baby started screaming. Not crying. Full on shrieking every few minutes over EVERYTHING. Wind blew? Crying. Someone laughed too loudly? Crying. A dog walked by? Crying.
The parents did absolutely nothing except bounce the stroller and say things like “aww, someone’s overstimulated.” Meanwhile, everyone around them kept looking at each other because the entire atmosphere was ruined. One couple actually got up and moved.
After almost an hour of this, I finally said, probably louder than I should have, “Maybe don’t bring a baby somewhere meant for adults until it learns not to cry every time the wind blows.”
The mom looked horrified. The dad called me rude. But I genuinely do not understand why some parents insist on bringing babies to breweries, wineries, upscale restaurants, and festivals where people specifically go to relax away from screaming kids.
What do you think?
LOVES KIDS – JUST NOT EVERYWHERE
Dear NOT EVERYWHERE,
While many believe kids should be allowed everywhere an adult goes, I tend to agree with you. If it’s advertised as adults-only, you are justified in being upset. Some people don’t realize you have to sacrifice certain things when you have children, at least until they are older. However, maybe be a bit more polite next time?
Love, GEORGIA
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