Gov. Brian Kemp appointed a fake Republican presidential elector and major political donor, Mark Hennessy, to the Board of Natural Resources on Thursday, putting him in a position of power while he’s involved in an investigation of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Hennessy, the owner of Hennessy auto dealerships, is the latest Republican elector to take a role in Georgia government after they tried to award the state’s votes to Trump, even though three vote counts had shown that Democrat Joe Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes.
Others include with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and state Sen. Shawn Still, who won election in 2022, and Vicki Consiglio, whom Kemp reappointed to the State Soil and Water Conservation Commission last summer.
All 16 of the Republicans who posed as Georgia’s legitimate Electoral College voters received “target” letters from the Fulton County district attorney’s office last summer alerting them that they could be charged with crimes. At least eight of them have accepted immunity deals, according to court documents. It’s unclear if Hennessy is among those who received immunity from prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation.
Attorneys for several Republican presidential electors have said they were following legal advice to cast “contingent” votes for Trump while lawsuits contesting the election were pending in court.
They signed a document claiming they were the “duly elected and qualified electors” from Georgia, without any indication they were doing so on a “contingent” basis that depended on the outcome of lawsuits.
Kemp declined to comment on why he appointed a fake elector to the DNR board. Hennessy didn’t immediately return a message Thursday afternoon.
Hennessy is a mega donor to Kemp’s campaigns. He gave $185,000 to Kemp’s leadership committee during the governor’s reelection campaign. In addition, Hennessy, his family and businesses contributed another $62,000 to Kemp’s campaign directly.
Hennessy previously served on the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia until this spring.
As a member of the Board of Natural Resources, Hennessy will be one of 19 people responsible for creating air and water quality rules, regulating hunting seasons, reviewing the Department of Natural Resources’ budget and proposing legislation.
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