Stacey Abrams, the current Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, created a PAC after her close loss to Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) in 2018. Called “Fair Fight PAC,” the name alludes to the scurrilous election denial by Abrams that she lost because of “voter suppression.”
Abrams has used Fair Fight PAC to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. But there are questions about where a sizable portion of that money went and what it was spent on.
Long-time Abrams aide Andre Fields acts as Fair Fight’s political director. Records show that members of Fields’ family and several friends have received thousands of dollars in “consulting fees” despite the fact that they all have full-time jobs and have no political experience.
Fields’ sister, Darius Faulk, is one of the cash recipients. The Fair Fight PAC has disbursed more than $120,000 to her for training consultant services since August 2021, Federal Election Commission records show.
Faulk appears to have practically no political experience. She’s worked for Hofstra University’s women’s basketball program since 2017, serving as its director of operations before landing a promotion to assistant coach, according to the school’s athletic website.
The Fair Fight PAC has also paid Fields’ close friends. In a 2019 interview with Voyage Atlanta, Fields named Asa Fludd and Cruz Alvarado among his close confidants, and both have hauled in tens of thousands of dollars from Abrams’ PAC.
The three combined received $178,000 in consulting services despite the fact that none of them have “consulted” on any other campaigns. “Ghost payrolling” is common in Chicago politics, and it works pretty much the same way as it does in Abrams’ PAC.
I guess I should mention it’s illegal.
Abrams is also being called out for Fair Fight spending half a million dollars on private security.
The Fair Fight PAC paid Atlanta-based private security company Executive Protection Agencies (EPA Security) over $550,000 between July 2021 and November 2021 and more than $1.2 million over the course of the year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Abrams faced some fire over the private security payments, with critics citing her opposition to the “privatization of justice” and past support for gun control and the defund-the-police movement.
Fair Fight PAC helped lay the groundwork for Abrams’ 2022 run for the Governor’s Mansion. It kept her name in front of the media and no doubt allowed her to rub shoulders with some well-heeled donors.
Abrams is now trailing Kemp by double-digits and appears headed for another defeat. I wonder who she’s going to pin her loss on this time.
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