Russian dictator Vladimir Putin seemed to be going after some of former President Donald Trump’s greatest enemies when he singled out Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger among 500 who now face travel and financial restrictions from Russia’s government.
That’s the analysis of Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for the New York Times who was also once the Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post. Baker noted that while Raffensperger and several others on the list have no role in U.S. or Russian foreign policy, they would only have drawn Moscow’s attention because Trump has “publicly assailed them.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry offered no specific explanation for why they would be included on the list but did say that among its targets were “those in government and law enforcement agencies who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called storming of the Capitol."
As recently as this month, Mr. Trump has tried to rewrite the history of that day and has dangled pardons for convicted rioters if he is elected to a second term. He also refused to commit to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia if he is elected president again, saying instead he would seek to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow.
Raffensperger, of course, rebuffed Trump’s demand to “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s election in a famously recorded phone call. Fulton County prosecutors could soon use that call as evidence to bring criminal charges against the former president and his allies.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
The Georgia Republican — who could run for governor or the U.S. Senate in 2026 — said in a response he was more than happy to have made the list.
“My inclusion on this list is deserved,” he wrote, “and I appreciate them thinking of me.”
He isn’t the only Georgian who can’t visit the Kremlin any time soon.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was on the list, too. Bottoms was a White House adviser working with outside advocates when WNBA player Brittney Griner was released from Russian captivity. She was also a vocal critic of Trump as mayor of Atlanta. She once said he would “eat his own children if he found it prudent.”
And U.S. Reps. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, and Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, were among 45 House freshmen dissed by Putin.
Russia released a similar list of 963 Americans it deemed banned from the country about a year ago. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, was named at the time although she has since become a prominent critic of American aid to Ukraine as it fights off an invasion from Russia.
***
Israel GPO/Kobi Gideon
Israel GPO/Kobi Gideon
ISRAEL TRIP. Gov. Brian Kemp’s trade mission to Israel had a busy opening day, including visits to a range of ancient cultural sites and a lengthy meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It was his visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to victims of the Holocaust, that seemed to leave the governor speechless. Just after exiting the Jerusalem museum, which he toured with emotional members of Georgia’s delegation on Sunday, Kemp called it one of the most moving experiences of his life.
He told us he was struck by how the Nazis meticulously documented the murders of millions of Jews.
“In a city that gives you so much hope — regardless of what religion you practice — there’s also so much despair,” Kemp said, adding that as sorrowful as the exhibit was, “I’m also glad we all got to see that. Our entire delegation was moved.”
The delegation of roughly two dozen members includes House Speaker Jon Burns, Senate GOP leader John Kennedy, Republican state Rep. Shaw Blackmon and Harold Reynolds, the chair of the state Board of Regents.
Other members are Gulfstream executive Jay Neely; real estate investor Manny Fialkow; Anat Sultan-Dadon, the Israeli Consul General to the Southeast; Kemp executive counsel David Dove and Pat Wilson, the head of the state economic development department.
***
Greg Bluestein/AJC
Greg Bluestein/AJC
SPLITTING THE BILL. The total cost of the state’s trade mission to Israel isn’t immediately known, but we can tell you that the state is picking up the tab for only the governor, the first lady, and state staff traveling with the group.
Others, including Kemp’s three daughters, the three Republican members of the General Assembly (Speaker Jon Burns, state Sen. John Kennedy, and state Rep. Shaw Blackmon), as well Burns’, Kennedy’s, and Blackmon’s wives who all also went to Israel, are paying their own way. That’s according to the governor’s office.
***
COMING, COLUMBUS! Former President Donald Trump won’t be the only White House contender to speak at the state GOP convention in Columbus next month.
Officials say former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is also set to address the gathering. He’s among the party’s most prominent Trump critics, but hasn’t yet caught fire in conservative media or fundraising circles.
***
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
MORE MAINOR. Georgia Rep. Mesha Mainor, D-Atlanta, posted a video to Twitter Saturday updating her followers on her ongoing feud with fellow Democrats, who are looking for a primary challenger against her after she sided with Republicans on issues like school vouchers.
“I’m not backing down, and I’m actually just getting started,” she said.
But a quick co-sign from the RNC and Democrat-turned-Republican former state Rep. Vernon Jones only fueled the fire against Mainor.
“Always good to see elected officials on the other side of the aisle call for more school choice!” said the Republican National Committee from its official Twitter account about 20 minutes after Mainor’s video hit the internet. “We should be giving kids every chance to succeed.”
State Sen. Josh McLaurin, one of Mainor’s most vocal critics and the man behind the $1,000 pledge to the first person to challenge her in next year’s primary, took note of the back and forth.
“When the national Republican Party retweets a Democrat favorably, it takes very little effort to understand what is happening,” McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, wrote in response.
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden is set to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in hopes of ironing out a deal to lift the debt limit.
- The U.S. House has evening votes scheduled.
- The U.S. Senate is out of session this week unless members get called back to approve debt ceiling legislation.
- U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, will launch his presidential bid during an event in North Charleston, South Carolina this morning.
***
Nathan Posner for the AJC
Nathan Posner for the AJC
RECESS WEEK. Barring a call back to Washington to approve debt ceiling legislation, Georgia’s U.S. senators will spend the week in the state meeting with various stakeholders and cross-crossing the state to highlight federal funding they helped secure locally.
On Monday, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will hold a news conference in Roswell to highlight his legislation to create a first-time homebuyers’ program for first responders, law enforcement officers and teachers. Ossoff, an Atlanta Democrat, introduced the bill with Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio last week.
Also today, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will visit an Atlanta-area medical facility. They’ll push his proposal to cap insulin at $35 a month for all patients, building upon the law passed last year that caps the cost for patients on Medicare.
***
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Variety is the spice of life and who demonstrates that better than Lulu Gehl, the mighty mix who calls Capitol regular Tom Gehl her person?
Lulu is a half-basset hound, half-Labrador retriever, which we think makes her a Bassador. Gehl, a lobbyist at the Capitol, also describes that 50%-50% mix as “100% adorable.” And although he reports that Lulu has no interest in politics, “I know for a fact that Lulu would LOVE PB&J Day at the Capitol.”
Based on our first-hand knowledge of Labradors’ capacious appetites, we fact check that claim: True.
Send us your animals of any political persuasion — dogs, cats, geese, etc., to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @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.
