During his ill-fated run for U.S. Senate last year, Herschel Walker repeatedly declined to answer even simple questions about his policy stances, his background and how he would vote if elected.
He appears to be taking a similar strategy as a defeated candidate as he faces new questions about his campaign finances.
Walker and his wife have declined to answer repeated questions from the AJC about accusations that he directed more than half a million dollars in campaign donations to one of his own businesses.
The inquiry stems from emails obtained by The Daily Beast, which reported that Walker asked Montana billionaire Dennis Washington for a $600,000 donation — and told him to wire $535,200 of that to a company that he runs called HR Talent.
An aide for Washington later said the donor requested a refund when he realized the destination for the cash and the money was ultimately returned, though the timeline for the transfer remains unclear. Either way, a watchdog group has already filed an ethics complaint seeking an investigation, and more scrutiny could follow.
Washington is also a donor to the Horatio Alger Association, the prestigious nonprofit educational organization that Walker recently awarded a $250,000 donation from his leftover campaign account.
This year, the Alger foundation listed Walker and his wife — and not his campaign — as individual “eagle flight” sponsors who gave at least $250,000 to the association.
Walker still has plenty more campaign cash to dispense. Campaign records show that Walker still has more than $4.3 million left in his account.
Putting money meant for a campaign into separate business accounts can land candidates in serious legal jeopardy. Disgraced U.S. Rep. George Santos was indicted earlier this week on wire fraud and money laundering charges for soliciting campaign contributions and then depositing those into a private business account for his personal use.
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LISTEN UP. Is it possible that former President Donald Trump confessed to every crime he’s accused of on stage at the CNN town hall Wednesday night?
In our Friday episode of the podcast, we look at the legal exposure Trump might have given himself during his blustery performance Wednesday night. We’ll also unpack the decision by the UGA football team to tell President Joe Biden thanks, but no thanks, for its recent White House invitation. And we answer listener questions and pick our who’s up and who’s down — all with a very special guest you won’t want to miss.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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Screenshot
Screenshot
PANNED. The reviews for that CNN town hall only got worse throughout the day Thursday, particularly from the many former CNN’ers steamed that the network put Trump on stage with an audience so primed for the former president it felt like a WWE wrestling match.
Our colleague Rodney Ho caught up with Tom Farmer, a former CNN “Larry King Live” executive producer, who compared the environment to “a Roman coliseum.” Josh Levs, a former CNN on-air personality, said airing the event in real time was the big mistake. “Any person who is a proven liar should never be put on live.”
Anderson Cooper addressed viewers’ “deep anger and disappointment” during his show last night.
“I get it,” he said, adding later. “You have every right to be outraged and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?”
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VP VISIT. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Atlanta on Friday. Democrats expect her to arrive around 2 p.m., host a fundraiser, and then headline the state party’s “spring soiree” later tonight.
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EAGER FOR EARMARKS. More Georgia Republicans in the U.S. House requested earmarks this year than last, highlighting a shift in “member-directed spending,” or earmark requests, now that their party is running the House.
Five of the state’s nine GOP lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, submitted earmark requests. Last year, there were only two.
In total, Georgia U.S. House members requested funding for 117 different local projects for a combined tab of $462 million. The Senate has its own earmarking process, and Georgia’s Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have submitted a total of 661 projects across the state that would be worth $2.6 billion.
Will House Republicans’ demands for deep spending cuts as a part of the debt ceiling negotiations affect their simultaneous requests for hometown cash? Time will tell.
In the meantime, you can find a searchable database of Georgia lawmaker’s earmarks requests at AJC.com.
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Jason Getz/AJC
Jason Getz/AJC
POLLING PLACE PURGE. Voting rights groups are calling on the City of Milton to reverse a decision to open just two polling places on Election Day this year, down from eight when elections there were run by Fulton County.
“This proposal directly limits voting access by leaving voters in southeast Milton without a nearby polling place — the area of the city which contains the highest number of Black and brown voters … where 30% to 50% of voters are people of color,” the voting rights groups wrote in a letter. “It is incumbent on you that your decision does not result in discriminatory and exclusionary access to the ballot.”
The voting location reduction comes as a result of Milton’s decision to manage its own municipal elections instead of Fulton County. Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison was one of three dissenting votes on the resolution to go to two polling places.
The two polling places would need to accommodate the city’s 31,000 registered voters, though the city estimated that turnout would be about 2,800 in this year’s local elections, according to the Appen Media Group. During early voting, one polling place will be open.
The voting rights groups’ letter was signed by Fair Fight Action, New Georgia Project Action Fund, Represent GA Network, Common Cause Georgia and All Voting is Local Action Georgia.
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Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Kenny Holston/The New York Times
BORDER BILL. All but two Republicans in the U.S. House backed a sweeping immigration and border security package Thursday.
The measure was approved 219-213, with all Democrats and two Republicans opposed. Georgia’s delegation split along party lines.
“With this bill, Republicans showed that we are committed to securing our border, supporting our border agents, and building the wall,” Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, said in a statement after the vote.
But Democrats called the measure an unserious effort to address a major problem that is only getting worse.
The vote occurred on the same day that a COVID-19 era policy expired, which had allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants seeking asylum. Border towns are now seeing a huge surge of migrants, and the Biden Administration is struggling to cope.
The White House said that effective immediately, anyone who crosses the border illegally will no longer be eligible to seek asylum.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
GUN CONTROL CAUCUS. Democrats in the U.S. Senate held the “family meeting” that Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock told us last week he had requested.
For more than an hour, they discussed potential gun safety legislation and whether it could gather the bipartisan support needed to pass.
Warnock was one of the last to leave the meeting. He said he was confident that legislation will come to fruition, but he wasn’t sure how or when.
“We talked about a few of the things that could be in that,” the Atlanta Democrat said. “Universal background checks, for example, polls at nearly 90%, according to a Fox News poll. I think the American people want us to take action to make sure that dangerous people don’t have access to guns.”
Warnock’s two small children were sequestered at their schools last week when a gunman opened fire at a Midtown Atlanta doctor’s office, killing one woman and injuring four more. Warnock’s oldest, 6-year-old Chloé, later explained to him how she and her friends huddled in thee classroom.
“A bad man was shooting, and so we were on lockdown,” she said.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will meet with President Pedro Sanchez of Spain at the White House.
- The U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a field hearing at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will chair the hearing on improving diversity and addressing worker shortages in the healthcare industry.
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
ONE DONE. Speaking of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, he had his first piece of legislation passed the House Thursday.
H.R. 1734 is designed to stop the spread of synthetic opioids by authorizing additional research by federal agencies. Collins, who chairs the House’s Science, Research, & Technology Subcommittee, introduced the measure alongside U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Colorado Democrat.
It passed unanimously in the House’s final vote of the week. Collins, R-Jackson, and his staff marked the occasion with a cookie cake.
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FARM TEAM. Good news in Watkinsville this month, as the city announced it is one step closer to purchasing the largest parcel of undeveloped land in Watkinsville, the 100-acre Thomas family farm.
The expansive rural parcel will be preserved and used as a city park, Mayor Brian Brodrick told us. It includes two ponds, more than 1/3 of a mile of Calls Creek frontage, 60-plus acres of open pasture, and more than 30 acres of woodlands. In a fast-developing part of the state, the Thomas farm will now be saved for all to enjoy, including, hopefully, your Jolters.
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Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Since we’re on a good news roll, meet Winston Rittenhouse, a pug-terrier mix (does that make him a “Perrier?”).
Winston calls Georgia Municipal Association lobbyist and Jolt-subscriber Leona Rittenhouse his person.
This little rescue was once a shelter pup named “Chewy.” A year later, Winston is now happily supervising the Rittenhouse bird feeders, monitoring productivity when his people work from home, and chewing fish taco toys.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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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.
