Some top Georgia Republican elected officials responded to the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night with disgust and disdain for an investigation that he has long derided as a “witch hunt.” But a handful took that derision a step further.
U.S. Reps. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, were among a bloc of conservative lawmakers who called for cuts to the Justice Department in retaliation for the four-count charges leveled against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
“Congress has the power of the purse,” Collins said in a statement. “As we continue the appropriations process next month, we must cut as much funding from the corrupt Department of Justice as possible.”
As she has for years, Greene took aim at both the Justice Department and the FBI, saying she would not “vote to fund these communist organizations that are doing the bidding of Joe Biden.”
Other Republicans took a more measured approach. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, whose suburban Atlanta district could soon be redrawn, adopted the conventional GOP stance by saying the charges were an attempt to distract from the incumbent president’s “ridiculous, failed agenda.”
“How about we focus on what works for the economy, energy, immigration, and freedom like [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis just laid out?” McCormick, R-Suwanee, said of the White House hopeful that he endorsed.
“Defund” the Justice Department calls aren’t new though they could be growing in intensity as the former president’s legal woes deepen. Trump has long urged his allies in Congress to punish federal investigators with budget cuts.
***
MORE FALLOUT. Other takeaways from the indictment:
- Federal prosecutors relied heavily on events in Georgia to build a criminal case against former President Donald Trump, with an indictment that mentions the state four dozen times.
- Trump’s call to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to recruit his help in reversing the election is getting renewed scrutiny by investigators.
- Two former Democratic state lawmakers who heard false testimony from Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in late 2020 received subpoenas to testify as witnesses before Fulton County grand juries. District Attorney Fani Willis is nearing her decision on whether to seek indictments against Trump and other Republican operatives for election interference. Former Rep. Bee Nguyen and former Sen. Jen Jordan were told to be ready to testify before the panels in August, according to reporting from the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman and Greg Bluestein.
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. Speaking of ace reporter Tamar Hallerman, she joined the Politically Georgia podcast late Tuesday to discuss all of the day’s breaking news and how it could affect Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ potentially imminent case against former President Donald Trump. Tallerman, along with the AJC’s Bill Rankin, have been reporting on the election interference investigation since its launch.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
***
ALL ABOUT GEORGIA. Back on the campaign trail, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is gradually sharpening his attacks on former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner. And DeSantis is using Georgia to help make his case.
He told Fox News this week that Georgia — seen as a must-win state for Republicans — will again reject Trump in next year’s election just as in 2020. Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes.
“The polls that come out … I beat Biden in Georgia. Trump doesn’t,” he said. “I beat Biden soundly in Arizona. Trump doesn’t. Those are just the realities.”
Most polls show Trump and Biden neck-and-neck in Georgia, while DeSantis fares marginally better in a head-to-head matchup against the Democratic incumbent.
Trump loyalists bemoaned DeSantis’ assessment. Kandiss Taylor, the chair of the 1st District GOP, took a swipe at both DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a social media post: “With whose polling? Does he really think we are stupid enough to believe any poll put out while his buddy and wanna be VP is in the Gov seat? We may talk slow, but we ain’t stupid.”
***
SCOTT WON’T STOP. U.S. Rep. David Scott, tells us that a report in Politico that said he is not expected to seek a 12th term in 2024 is incorrect.
Scott’s campaign apparatus is far from dormant with more than $778,000 in cash on hand in his account at the end of June after raising $156,386 during the second quarter. The Atlanta Democrat released a statement exclusively to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he plans on being on the ballot next year.
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
“I am delighted to see newfound interest in the important work of the House Agriculture Committee,” he tells us, referring to the Politico reports that he is being side-stepped on agriculture issues despite being the top-ranking Democrat on the committee.
Scott tells us he remains engaged on issues like renewing the Farm Bill, protecting funding for historically Black colleges and universities, and ensuring Republicans are unsuccessful in implementing new requirements for recipients of the SNAP food assistance program.
“These are all issues I intend to tackle in the next Congress,” the statement reads, “which is why I am running for reelection.”
***
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
EYE ON 2026. With word that Chris Carr, Georgia’s attorney general, plans to run for governor percolating in political circles, we have more names to add to potential watch lists.
We’ve already mentioned Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as potential Republican contenders, but also keep an eye on U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter. The Savannah-area Republican passed on a U.S. Senate run in 2022, but we expect him to be in the mix in 2026 for the Senate or governor’s race.
On the Democratic side, we’re also watching DeKalb Chief Executive Michael Thurmond as a potential candidate for governor. Other prominent Democrats who could make a run for the office: Stacey Abrams, Jason Carter, Jen Jordan and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, R-Marietta.
As for the race to replace Carr as Georgia’s top cop, The Jolt highlighted a few potential contenders earlier this week. Let’s add another to the fray: State Sen. Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican first elected in 2006.
***
Credit: Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
Credit: Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
PAPER PUSH: Dozens of conservatives asked the State Election Board to ditch Dominion voting machines during a packed board meeting last night. The showing is part of an ongoing effort to force a switch from Georgia’s voting machines to hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots.
Georgia lawmakers passed a law in 2019 requiring in-person voters to use touchscreens that print out paper ballots. The state then spent $107 million to buy the Dominion voting equipment. The voting system replaced 17-year-old electronic voting equipment.
Wearing T-shirts proclaiming “paper ballots please,” the activists told the election board they distrust Georgia’s voting system following Trump’s 2020 loss, a professor’s report on potential vulnerabilities to hacking and a belief that the machines are unreliable, our AJC colleague Mark Niesse reports.
“We have a crisis of confidence in our elections,” said Kevin Parker of Appling County. “Dump Dominion, unplug Georgia, and replace it with a reliable, transparent, fully foolproof voting system.”
Defenders of the machines say they’re accurate and secure, with results from the 2020 presidential race counted three times and no indication of tampering with the election.
The public comments lasted two hours, and the Republican voters who spoke said they’re unconvinced.
“This is because of illegitimate elections. Everyone knows Trump won,” said Richard Schroeder of Hall County. “We’ve got to fix it because our country is in peril and it’s not going to take much more to make it fail.”
Trump lost by about 12,000 votes to Biden in Georgia, a result held up by multiple recounts and verified by state and federal Republican officials. But Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 elections in Georgia were rigged and stolen.
Although the election board heard the public comment last night, it is not considering changing the voting system.
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden continues his vacation at his residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
- The House and Senate are in recess for the month of August.
***
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
VETERANS UPDATE. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will hold a telephone town hall for Georgia veterans tonight to share details on how to apply for PACT Act benefits.
The Georgia Democrat supported a bill last year to expand certain Veterans Affairs health care benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. Veterans must apply for the program by next Wednesday to be eligible for backdated benefits.
The briefing will stream at 6 p.m. on Ossoff’s Facebook page.
***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. On a day like today, we could all use a reminder that red and blue can live happily side by side.
So meet Luke (in red) and Jack Neely, the East Atlanta Labrador Retriever brothers who call Jolt subscriber Niclaire Neely their person. Be like Luke and Jack.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
***
AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
