Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger had a few show-stopping comments in Atlanta over the weekend at the Book Festival of the MJCCA to promote “Renegade,” his new hardcover about battling former President Donald Trump and other members of his party during his years in Congress.
Kinzinger has previously criticized Trump and the Republicans he says enable the former president. On a recent episode of Politically Georgia, the former Illinois congressman said it’s “insane” and “nuts” for fellow Republicans like Gov. Brian Kemp, who have fought Trump, to nonetheless say they are prepared to vote for him in 2024.
Credit: (Courtesy photo)
Credit: (Courtesy photo)
“There’s only one thing on the ballot in 2024: Do you support democracy or authoritarianism?” Kinzinger said.
At the weekend book event, some in the audience gasped when Kinzinger said Democrats must win the White House in 2024 — and then vowed to help them do it.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” he said, before promising he’d be “back in Georgia next year” to campaign against Trump.
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Credit: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau
Credit: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau
REST IN PEACE, ROSALYNN. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died on Sunday at the age of 96. The AJC has wall-to-wall coverage on her life and legacy — along with how you can help celebrate her memory. Here are some of the key stories:
- Read the AJC’s definitive obituary of Rosalynn Carter.
- The ceremonies celebrating her life will take place next week, after Thanksgiving, in Atlanta and her native Sumter County.
- Carter helped transform mental health care as first lady of Georgia and later, in the U.S.
- Her relationship with her husband stretched more than 90 years and was, in the former president’s words, an “equal partnership” always.
- If you have stories or pictures you’d like to share about Rosalynn Carter, we would love to hear from you.
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A THOUSAND WORDS. Although words often fail to capture the intimacy of a moment like Rosalynn Carter’s passing, Mike Luckovich rarely does.
Here is his tribute to the woman Georgians have considered their own for the last 96 years.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
PLACE YOUR BETS. The 2024 Legislative session is less than two months away — and what do you want to wager that sports betting will be on the agenda?
The annual guessing game is already underway with Capitol Beat’s Dave Williams checking in with leaders.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said he expects his Senate chamber to take the lead on the issue in January. “Sports betting is something that should be an easy lift,” the Republican said. But not everybody’s betting on it.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
WEEKLY PLANNER. Speaking of legislative sessions, remember to mark your calendars for Nov. 29, when the state House and Senate will gavel in for the special legislative session on redistricting.
Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the special session in response to a ruling by federal district Judge Steve Jones that the maps drawn by the General Assembly in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in elections.
That special session is expected to wrap up by Dec. 8, the deadline set by Jones for new maps for Georgia’s congressional, state House and state Senate districts.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
JAN. 6 TAPES. House Republicans have uploaded online hours of previously limited surveillance video taken during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The footage had already been released to Tucker Carlson and various media organizations and was also viewable to the public by appointment only. Now, it’s on the web for all to see and dissect.
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, chair of the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, is leading a second investigation of the breach, celebrated the video release on Friday.
“We will continue loading video footage as we conduct our investigation and continue to review footage,” Loudermilk said in a statement. “As I’ve said all along — the American people deserve transparency, accountability, and real answers supported by facts instead of a predetermined political narrative.”
Many Republicans said the Jan. 6 select committee appointed by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put too much focus on former President Donald Trump and not the security and intelligence processes that day.
Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to deflect from the fact that it was a pro-Trump mob of thousands that stormed the Capitol that day.
U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle of New York and the top Democrat on the Administration Committee, blamed newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson for allowing unfettered access to the footage.
“It is unconscionable that one of Speaker Johnson’s first official acts as steward of the institution is to endanger his colleagues, staff, visitors and our country by allowing virtually unfettered access to sensitive Capitol security footage,” Morelle said.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, said she hopes Johnson will create a new GOP-appointed Jan. 6 committee.
But the AJC’s Jamie Dupree said the newly posted footage tells a familiar story, with hours of images of Trump supporters rioting, breaking windows, prying open doors to get into the Capitol, and relentlessly attacking police inside and outside the building.
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FAMILY TROUBLE. WSB-TV reported Friday that Jimmie Gardner, the brother-in-law of Stacey Abrams and husband of Georgia federal Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, has been arrested on human trafficking charges involving a minor in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Gardner is a motivational speaker who married the judge after he was exonerated of a previous sexual assault charge in 1987.
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READY TO FLY. We’ve picked up word that Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive counsel David Dove is planning to leave his post early next year to pursue private-sector work. Dove has served as Kemp’s top counsel for the last five years, and has worked with the Republican since 2009.
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Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
OCMULGEE MOUNDS. A yearslong bipartisan effort in Middle Georgia is inching forward as members of Georgia’s congressional delegation welcome a new federal study of the Ocmulgee River Corridor. The Department of the Interior review is considered the next step in designating the Ocmulgee Mounds near Macon a national park and preserve.
The new park, if it is created, would include the existing Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park plus the Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and other areas along the Ocmulgee River. It would also feature members of the Muscogee (Creek) nation as staff to tell the tribe’s own story of removal from the land.
Congress authorized the National Parks Service study on the matter in 2019. Georgia Reps. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, and Sanford Bishop authored the legislation at the time, with the support of then U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue. Now, Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have taken up the mantle.
“The Ocmulgee Mounds remain a cultural and archeological treasure to our state and nation,” Bishop, D-Albany, said in a statement Friday. “I am pleased to see the work started over a decade ago continues today.”
Warnock, D-Atlanta, will tour Ocmulgee Mounds today and talk up the bipartisan efforts to create the national park and preserve. Upgrading Ocmulgee Mounds and related areas from national historic site to Georgia’s first national park would officially designate it as one of America’s most important ecological and geological sites.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will pardon turkeys Liberty and Bell ahead of Thanksgiving during an event at the White House. He’s also celebrating his 81st birthday.
- The U.S. House and Senate are on Thanksgiving break.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. If you’re one of the many longtime Jolt subscribers who have been scratching their heads to find us here lately, you’re not alone.
Meet Josie St. Louis, the 10-month-old rescue pup who calls Mike St. Louis her person. When Jolt devotee Mike couldn’t find the newly rebranded “Politically Georgia” newsletter on AJC.com, he sent Josie out on the hunt.
Proving she may have some bloodhound in the mix, Josie tracked us down here at “Politically Georgia” for Mike’s daily fix and we’re glad she did. Good dog, Josie! You’re our Dog of the Day.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and location, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com
