The narrative that dominated Georgia politics in 2018 was that Stacey Abrams almost won the Georgia governor’s race. Thankfully, Brian Kemp prevailed, but the margin was so close that Abrams refused to concede.
The close shave of that race set Abrams up for a 2022 rematch, but Kemp, then the incumbent, defeated her soundly. Kemp had developed such a formidable political machine that he carried every Republican in statewide races across the finish line alongside him — with the exception of Herschel Walker, who lost in a runoff against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
It turns out that Abrams’ PACs were crooked back in 2018. Now those organizations are on the hook for the biggest ethics fine in Georgia history.
“The Georgia State Ethics Commission announced on Wednesday that it would fine New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund $300,000 for its hidden use of dark money during Abrams’ first gubernatorial campaign,” reports Ben T. N. Mause at NOTUS. “The group illegally raised over $4.2 million, then poured over $3.2 million into efforts supporting Abrams’ and other Georgia Democrats’ elections, paying for flyers, organizing field offices and hiring thousands of canvassers who knocked hundreds of thousands of doors.”
Today we instituted the largest fine in Commission history. We are proud of the commitment our staff attorneys made in conjunction with the Attorney General’s office to see this case through after five years of litigation. pic.twitter.com/jhMhKmkrQc
— State Ethics Commission (@georgiaethics) January 15, 2025
The groups’ ethical lapse was failing to register as an independent campaign committee before soliciting donations and failing to file reports for the contributions they took in for Abrams’ campaign. The two organizations did the same thing in 2019 when they raised money illegally for a drive to extend public transportation in Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta. The committee hit another PAC raising money for Abrams, Gente4Abrams, with a $50,000 fine in 2020 for similar shady dealings.
Related: What Exactly Did Stacey Abrams Accomplish?
“It’s proof that there were illegal, bad actors pushing her across the finish line,” said David Emadi, executive director of the ethics commission. “This notion that these were organizations just out to help register voters is an outright lie.”
The Associated Press (whose far-left reporter, Jeff Amy, probably cried as he wrote the story) reports that Abrams founded the group but wasn’t directly affiliated with it by the time she ran for governor. Interestingly enough, corporate filings list Warnock as the CEO from 2017 to 2019, although Emadi says that the committee didn’t find evidence that the senator was involved in the dark money shenanigans.
“Lawyers for the New Georgia Project previously argued that the groups acted like other nonprofits and that Republicans including Emadi, who had donated to Kemp, were using their majority on the commission in a partisan witch hunt to damage Abrams’ political viability,” reports the AP. Of course, Democrats will blame partisanship for their ethical failures.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R-Ga.) reacted on X:
Stacey Abrams is a fraud who used activists in the mainstream media to try to pull the wool over Georgians’ eyes. It didn’t work. She was embarrassed two cycles in a row and now embarrassed again that her illegal grift is being exposed.
— Burt Jones (@burtjonesforga) January 15, 2025
Today’s news shows that the people of… https://t.co/DzBVFgiz2f
Kemp’s former communications director, Cody Hall, weighed in as well:
Key point here: the New Georgia Project and Abrams’ staffers called the Ethics Commission investigation a “fishing expedition”, and claimed it was partisan and orchestrated by the governor’s office.
— Cody Hall (@CodyHallGA) January 15, 2025
Today, they admitted to *every* allegation contained in the investigation. https://t.co/6G9J2dVrV5
“I think actions like this should be criminal because of the significant impact secret money can have on elections,” Ethics Commissioner Rick Thompson said. “Organizations attempting to keep their election spending secret is shameful and does a disservice to our elections and voters.”
It's hard not to wonder how much Abrams knew about the dark money her group was raising. And if she knew about it, how much did it play into her stubborn refusal to concede? I bet we’ll never get an answer to those questions.
You can help us in our calling to report the truth with the conservative perspective you crave — and a dash of style — by becoming a PJ Media VIP.
Our VIPs are the lifeblood of what we do, and they invest in our mission — plus they receive some great rewards, including exclusive content, podcasts, an ad-free experience, and commenting privileges.
It’s a great time to become a VIP because we’re running a limited-time summer special. Get 74% off your VIP membership when you use the code POTUS47. What are you waiting for?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member