Attorneys for Jeffrey Clark are asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the charges against their client in a filing on Wednesday. District Attorney Fani Willis charged Clark in her sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump.
Read More
A Fulton County Judge ruled on Monday that Sheriff Pat Labat (D) cannot transfer jail detainees from Atlanta to a private prison in Mississippi. Labat previously indicated he would move up to 1,000 inmates to facilities in south Georgia and Mississippi to ease overcrowding.
In a mixed ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee determined Labat does not have the legal authority to transfer inmates to other states, but also dismissed allegations that he was violating his official duties by considering the transfer.
Read More
Activists have announced a three-day protest against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center will occur in November in what the organizers claim is a final bid to stop its construction.
The activists claim protest will occur from November 10-14, and are organizing it because their petition calling for a public referendum on the future of a facility that will train law enforcement and firefighters remains stalled with the City of Atlanta even though the public safety training center is nearly halfway complete.
Read More
Georgia Power is asking the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) for permission to generate more electricity from fossil fuels on Friday, citing demand for energy that is 17 times higher than they expected in 2022.
The company cited Georgia’s “extraordinary economic growth” as “one of the fastest growing states in the country” in an update to its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which explained the company will need extra funding due to the “significantly increased” energy needs of businesses “bringing electrical loads at a scale” that demands additional capacity.
Read More
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones (D) was sanctioned by a federal judge on Thursday after she dodged a deposition in a sexual discrimination lawsuit launched by a former assistant district attorney.
During her successful 2020 campaign against Republican incumbent Meg Heap, a PAC connected to billionaire financier George Soros “invested nearly $80,000 into advertising materials” supporting Cook Jones, though Savannah Morning News reported she claimed to have no communication with the group.
Read More
Atlanta-based attorney Bob Cheeley refused a plea deal offered by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, his lawyer confirmed in a Thursday statement to CNN.
“To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on,” Cheeley’s attorney, Richard Rice, told the outlet. “They made us an offer some time ago and we declined it.”
Read More
A Georgia law means defendants who reached plea deals with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump will likely be “completely exonerated” after the terms of their sentencing are complete.
Georgia’s First Offender Act allows some guilty defendants, who were not previously convicted of a felony, to have the criminal charge against them removed from their criminal record after serving the terms of the sentence issued against them. At least two of the lawyers who entered into a plea agreement with Willis appear likely to receive first-offender status.
Read More
A Fulton County Judge set the first hearing date for the Georgia election trial of former President Donald Trump on Thursday. The former president’s counsel, Steve Sadow, will make his first appearance representing Trump at a Fulton County court on December 1.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will hear arguments from Trump’s attorney and District Attorney Fani Willis on eight motions, each written submitted by another defendant and adopted by Trump.
Read More
The Atlanta Professional Firefighters addressed city leaders in a strongly worded letter on Tuesday, warning the city’s fleet of emergency response vehicles is in dire condition. Its letter came after Atlanta Fire and Rescue informed the city of its decision to formally close three fire stations due to vehicle and staffing issues.
In a letter obtained by Atlanta First News, firefighters claimed that many of Atlanta’s fire stations lack an actual fire engine with water capable of extinguishing a fire. They stated that this implies the actual number of non-operational fire stations is higher than the three identified by the city on Monday.
Read More
Garland Favorito of the Georgia election integrity group VoterGA warned in a press conference on Tuesday that special prosecutor Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump is an attempt to smear Republicans with “blatant lies” before voters head to the polls in 2024.
Favorito highlighted Smith’s claims that Trump “spread lies that there had been outcome determinative fraud in the election,” ordered a false set of Electoral College certifications that purported to be from legitimate electors, and urged former Vice President Mike Pence to fraudulently alter the Electoral College votes on January 6 as easily disprovable lies designed to taint Republicans in to potential voters, then offered counterarguments to Smith’s accusations.
Read More
Jenna Ellis became the fourth defendant indicted in the Georgia racketeering case against former President Donald Trump to accept a plea deal on Tuesday.
Read More
A member of the Clayton County Commission was stripped of her title on Monday as part of an official sanction after her claims of being slipped the date rape drug at a Morrow bar were contradicted by a police investigation and video that appeared to show her consume at least five alcoholic drinks before losing consciousness.
The Clayton County Commission unanimously voted to sanction Commissioner Felicia Franklin and strip her from the vice chairman position, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Franklin did not attend the meeting or participate in the vote.
Read More
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said on Thursday that the city’s new Public Safety Training Center is about 40 percent complete, and he expects construction on the site’s buildings will begin in January.
Dickens told the Buckhead Young Republicans that the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is nearly halfway complete, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The training center is located in Buckhead, the uptown commercial and residential district of Atlanta that has sought to become its own city, and the outlet noted that 61 percent of residents supported its construction in a March poll.
Read More
The attorney representing the family of Leonard Cure, who a Georgia deputy fatally shot during a traffic stop, claimed on Friday that Cure was “triggered” by law enforcement before the struggle that preceded his death on October 16.
Cure was fatally shot by a Camden County Sheriff’s deputy last week when he refused to cooperate with the deputy after being pulled over for allegedly driving more than 100 miles per hour. Video released by the Camden County Sheriff’s office reveals that, after being tased, a struggle ensued between the deputy and Cure. It continued despite the deputy deploying his baton and striking Cure, and only ended when the deputy removed his pistol and appeared to fire once into Cure’s abdomen.
Read More
Attorney Kenneth Chesebro entered a plea agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Friday. Chesebro is the third defendant to accept a plea deal, following attorney Sidney Powell and bail bondsman Scott Hall.
Chesebro pleaded to just one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that Willis dropped the other six felony counts against him in exchange for a guilty plea and the promise to truthfully testify in upcoming trials.
Read More
Former President Donald Trump will benefit from the plea deal Sidney Powell accepted from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, according to Georgia lawyer Steve Sadow, who said Powell’s requirement to truthfully testify in upcoming trials related to the 2020 election in Georgia will help Trump.
Sadow said in a statement to The Messenger that Powell’s testimony, which is required as part of her plea deal, “will be favorable” to his defense strategy, “[a]ssuming truthful testimony in the Fulton County case.”
Read More
The family of Leonard Cure, a man fatally shot by Georgia law enforcement, seemed to blame mental illness after Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor released videos showing the moments that preceded the fatal police shooting on October 16. Cure was once wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for over 16 years before he was released in 2020.
Read More
The Clayton County Commissioner who claimed she was slipped the date rape drug while at a live music event refused calls for her to resign on Tuesday, even after local police, a urinalysis test, and video recorded by the venue all seemed to contradict her story.
Clayton County Commissioner Felicia Franklin, who is running to become the board’s chairman, said during a commission meeting on Tuesday that she would only “resign as the District 3 commissioner” when she is “elected as Chairwoman of the Board of Commission,” according to WSB-TV.
Read More
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered oral arguments on Monday for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ bid to remove the racketeering case against him from Fulton County to a federal court. On Tuesday, the court requested additional arguments from District Attorney Fani Willis and Meadows’ lawyers, to be submitted early next month.
Meadows argues that he should not be tried in Fulton County because he a federal official working for former President Donald Trump at the time Willis alleges he engaged in criminal activities. A lower court agreed with Willis, who argued that Meadows’ efforts to contest the 2020 election results in Georgia went outside his job duties as Trump’s Chief of Staff.
Read More
Georgia has accrued nearly $11 billion in cash reserves, invested the maximum legal amount into its rainy day fund, and tucked more than $2 billion into its lottery reserve fund, according to a government report published Monday.
The State Accounting Office published its report for the budget year ending in June 2023 this week, revealing the state has just over $10.7 billion cash on hand. Georgia also boasts almost $5.4 billion in its rainy day fund, which is at its constitutional limit, and $2.1 billion in its lottery reserve fund.
Read More
Georgia State Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell) was in Israel with his mother on October 7, when Hamas fighters launched a horrific surprise attack on the country, and told The Georgia Star News he was thankful for Israelis for “protecting Americans” caught in the conflict.
In a statement released Thursday, Goodman relayed his first hand experiences “being in Israel while Hamas terrorists launched a sickening attack that killed hundreds of innocent Israelis,” and described “hearing the rockets fired from the Iron Dome to automatic weapon fire heard near our hotel,” as his “ex-military Israeli guide” refused to leave his family “even as rockets landed within 200 yards of his home with his wife and children there.” The senator said he witnessed “the very best of the Israeli people,” and the experience left him convinced of “the bond that our freedom-loving countries share.”
Read More
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced on Friday that Georgia has purchased an additional $10 million in Israel bonds to support the country’s “defense efforts against the militant Hamas regime,” which began horrific surprise attacks against Israel on October 7.
Kemp announced the purchase on Friday morning in a press release that revealed $10 million “was the highest available on the market.” The latest buy brings Georgia’s total investment in Israel bonds to $25 million, and the governor noted Georgia has “purchased an aggregate of $50 million in bonds, with half the bonds now matured,” since he took office.
Read More
Another letter sent by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) to U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) was obtained by the media on Thursday. In the letter, Willis again rebuked Jordan’s requests for information about her case against former President Donald Trump, and denied the U.S. Constitution gives Congress oversight of her work.
In her letter, which is dated October 11, Willis accused Jordan of either being “ignorant of the United States and Georgia Constitutions and codes” or using his “authority as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary to attempt to obstruct and interfere” with her case against Trump.
Read More
A federal judge denied a preliminary injunction request from President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice on Wednesday after the administration sought to stop enforcement of the 2021 Georgia voting law they claim discriminates against black voters.
United States District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled the Department of Justice is unlikely to prove any of its claims at trial, and denied the Biden administration’s request to pause portions of the law.
Read More
Walmart and Archer Aviation both announced plans to invest in Georgia on Wednesday, and the companies’ plans will ultimately create more than 1,400 new jobs throughout the state.
A new milk processing facility was announced in the south Georgia city of Valdosta, and Walmart said the $350 million location will employ nearly 400 Georgians. Products bottled at the facility will include gallon and half gallon varieties of whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, skim, and 1 percent chocolate milk for the Great Value and Sam’s Club Member’s Mark brands, and they will be sold to 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Georgia and across the region.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed three new witnesses she intends to call in the trial of pro-Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell in filings made on Tuesday. Willis’ office named Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Infowars radio host Alex Jones, and former Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Andrew Hitt in documents requesting their testimony.
Hitt was a Republican alternative elector in Wisconsin, and Willis claims he received an email from Chesebro on December 10, 2020, then met with Chesebro on December 14, as Wisconsin Republicans signed a document identifying themselves as Republican Electoral College electors.
Read More
A new report published Tuesday reveals Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office has repeatedly failed to charge alleged criminals within a 90-day window from their arrest, forcing judges who previously denied them bail to renege and grant it, with at least 20 separate instances identified by 11 Alive.
Georgia law requires those who are arrested and refused bail to be formally indicted within 90 days, or else given bail, and 11 Alive claims court documents prove the county has failed to do this nearly two dozen times.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued in a legal filing on Tuesday that attorney-client privilege should not be extended to legal memos and emails written by pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who she indicted in August for the legal strategies he gave former President Donald Trump and his campaign in support of their 2020 election contest in Georgia.
In response to Chesebro’s request to have a handful of memos and emails stricken, citing his attorney-client privilege with the Trump campaign, Willis and Fulton County argued the “documents formed the bases for a criminal conspiracy” to “unlawfully overturn” the 2020 election results, and thus “cannot receive the protections afforded to lawful attorney communications or documents.”
Read More
Eight Georgia Senators have filed a formal ethics complaint against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, alleging she prioritized cases based on her political ideology. The senators, all Republicans, filed the complaint on October 1 with the new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission.
The complaint, which was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has the support of Republican leadership in the Senate. The senators allege Willis “prioritized cases that align with her political party’s interests,” and ““improperly cherry-picked cases to further her personal political agenda,” according to The Messenger. While the complaint does not name former President Donald Trump, who was indicted by Willis in August, it does reference the 10 detainees who have died this year at Fulton County Jail while awaiting trial.
Read More
Georgia Power Co. agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle a lawsuit on Friday, after Oglethorpe Power Corp. accused the utility company of failing to follow its financial commitments regarding maintenance of nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta. The company said it would take longer for the facility to become fully operational as a result, even as Georgia energy rates continue to increase.
The lawsuit was filed last year, reported The Associated Press, with Oglethorpe Power accusing Georgia Power of sticking them with nearly $700 million in additional costs by unilaterally changing a contract to make itself immune to cost overruns at the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility that is seven years behind schedule and $17 billion over budget.
Read More
Prosecutors are recommending zero charges for the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) troopers who responded to civil unrest at the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Facility, according to a Friday report from the Mountain Circuit District Attorney’s Office. The report concerns the January 18 incident that saw one trooper shot by activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, which prompted the troopers to return fire and fatally shoot Terán.
The report includes testimony from troopers who responded to the future site of the public safety training center on January 18, and prosecutors ultimately ruled that use of lethal force by GSP was “objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case,” and thus requires no criminal charges.
Read More
In a pair of legal filings submitted Friday, attorney Kenneth Chesebro claims the case levied against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be dismissed based on First Amendment protections, and that she has failed to prove the racketeering charges against him. Chesebro, an attorney who assisted with former President Donald Trump’s effort to contest the 2020 election, requested Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee hold a hearing for arguments related to the latest filings.
The pair of filings were submitted by Chesebro’s attorneys on Friday afternoon, which The Messenger notes is the final day for parties to file written responses, and follow McAfee’s decision to toss a separate motion to dismiss the indictment earlier that morning.
Read More
A Georgia high school teacher in Cobb County was arrested on October 4 and charged with sexual assault by a teacher and solicitation of sodomy over an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student.
Harrison High School social studies teacher Eric Taylor Butler was arrested for an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a student that began in June. The alleged abuse reportedly and continued until October 2, according to Atlanta First News, which reported the 28-year-old teacher allegedly carried on a relationship with a 16-year-old student.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is seeking testimony from lawyer and political consultant Boris Epshteyn in the trial of lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, according to a court filing made public Thursday.
Willis wants a Washington, D.C. judge to force Epshteyn, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, to testify about actions taken by Chesebro and Powell during Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results. Fulton County promised Epshteyn will not be prosecuted for any information gleaned from his testimony.
Read More
The Georgia Senate announced a new subcommittee to probe severe overcrowding and dangerous conditions at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday, with news breaking on Wednesday that State Senators John Albers (R-Alpharetta) and Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) will lead the probe.
The probe was revealed as activists gathered to protest Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat’s plan to relocate inmates to other facilities, including ones in South Georgia and Mississippi.
Read More
Since 2022, the Georgia Republican Party has paid more than $1 million in legal bills for current and former officials embroiled in the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election in the state.
Public records reveal the Georgia Republican Party has spent more than $1 million for the legal defense of State Senator Shawn Still (R-Johns Creek), former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, and former Coffee County GOP Chair Cathy Latham since 2022. The three Republicans were indicted as part of Willis’s case against Trump for their role as alternative Republican electors during the 2020 election contest.
Read More
Clayton County Commission chair Felicia Franklin claims she was given the date rape drug while attending a live music event in Morrow, Georgia last weekend.
Franklin claimed in a post on Facebook that medical professionals believe she “was drugged with a GHB pill, more commonly known as the ‘date rape pill,'” and said the experience had “shaken me to my core.”
Read More
Former President Donald Trump recorded a video heaping praise on Georgia State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) for his legislative petition to force a special session for the purpose of defunding or impeaching Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Moore announced his petition effort after Willis indicted Trump and 18 other defendants in August, but received intense pushback from Georgia Republicans. Moore, a member of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, then arranged for activists to door-knock in Republican stronghold districts held by senators who oppose his petition, which ultimately lead to his expulsion from the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus.
Read More
An Atlanta-based venture capital firm’s grant program that is exclusively available to businesses owned by black women was blocked by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in a Saturday injunction that prevents funds being dispersed for the “racially exclusionary” grant program.
The 11th Circuit voted 2-1 to grant the injunction requested by the non-profit American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), a project of conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, which is suing the venture capital Fearless Fund over its race-based Fearless Strivers Grant.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) subpoenaed Bernie Kerik, demanding he testify in her racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election. A lawyer for Kerik reportedly replied to Willis on Monday, declaring the former New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner and alleged unindicted co-conspirator would not testify under oath without assurances he will not be prosecuted.
Read More
SK Battery announced layoffs for its Jackson County, Georgia plant this week despite previously expanding rapidly in Georgia. The layoffs came just months after a local business owner blamed the company for a fire that destroyed his recycling company and launched a lawsuit.
The battery company announced layoffs last Tuesday, with a spokesman describing them as “job reductions” when speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The spokesman stressed the company is “not disclosing the number” of cut jobs, and the plant still employs 3,000 Georgians.
Read More
Polling released on Friday reveals the majority of Georgia voters support the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, with only 12 percent of poll respondents expressing support for the controversial “Stop Cop City” petition to force a public referendum on the project.
60 percent of Georgia voters back the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, agreeing with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, according to polling by 20-20 Insight. An additional 28 percent of Georgia voters are not sure, and just 12 percent support the “Stop Cop City” petition.
Read More
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee cautioned prosecutors working for District Attorney Fani Willis against calling witnesses not specifically outlined in their witness list. McAfee made his warning during a procedural hearing on Friday for the trial of attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who face charges for their alleged part in what Willis claims was a racketeering scheme meant to illegally influence the 2020 election in Georgia.
Responding to a discovery notice filed by prosecutors, which sought to notify the court of their intention to call additional witnesses who provided testimony to the special grand jury but are not identified as witnesses, McAfee told special prosecutor Nathan Wade he expects “the state to be adhering to witness list rules, and if there are witnesses that are buried in discovery somewhere that don’t make it on that list, we’re going to have an issue and we’re going to have to talk through it.”
Read More
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Georgia Star News that a former guard at the Fulton County Jail, who was charged on Thursday after allegedly strangling a detainee to the point of losing consciousness, is a biologically female person. Media reports seem to disagree on Clark’s gender, with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution referring to Clark using female pronouns and Fox 5 Atlanta using male pronouns in its reporting.
Read More
The Georgia Senate Republican Caucus voted on Thursday to oust State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) after he circulated a legislative petition calling for a special session to impeach or defund Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and sent activists to door-knock in districts of senators who publicly opposed the petition.
Moore announced a petition for a special session to defund or impeach Willis following her indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 current or former allies who helped him contest the 2020 election, sparking support from the grassroots and caution from Republican leadership. Since then, activists working with Moore have door knocked in Republican districts to lobby voters against Republican senators who refused to back the petition.
Read More
Conservative litigation group America First Legal (AFL) asked for a federal investigation into the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech, over alleged discrimination against men in its new Rising Stars program that only accepts students who are biologically female, identify as female, or do not identify as any gender, in a letter sent Tuesday.
AFL alleges Georgia Tech is violating Title IX of the Higher Education Act of 1972, which prohibits gender-based exclusion in “any education program or activity receiving federal Federal financial assistance,” and sent a letter to the Department of Education asking it launch an investigation based on the legal group’s evidence.
Read More
A lawyer and author renowned for his critiques of former President Donald Trump publicly criticized Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her case against the former president, calling it “unnecessary” and “partisan” in a podcast appearance on Tuesday.
Elie Honig, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney for the Southern District of New York, questioned whether Willis’s charges serve “the greater good” or “promote public confidence in the fairness” of the cases against Trump on the “CAFE Insider” podcast.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) told the audience at the Atlanta-based hip hop festival, Revolt World, that she and members of her family have received threats as a result of her office’s prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and rapper Young Thug.
Willis attended the festival, held in Atlanta beginning on September 22, and delivered remarks about her high profile prosecutions of Trump and Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams. At one point Willis told the audience that her father, daughters, and ex-husband have all received threats due to the high profile cases, in addition to threats she personally received.
Read More
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) accused former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows of abusing his federal position to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 elections, according to a filing her office submitted to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.
Meadows has repeatedly sought to have his case removed from Fulton County to a federal court. That attempt was stymied by a federal judge, but an expedited appeal was granted to the 11th Circuit. Meadows’ lawyers submitted their filing last week, arguing that Willis was committing unforced constitutional “errors” in her “unnecessary” effort to prevent his case’s removal.
Read More
Governor Brian Kemp (R) said he believes former President Donald Trump “can win Georgia” during an interview last Friday. Kemp added that he would support Trump, should he become the Republican nominee for president, despite the public feud between the men.
Kemp said he is willing to support the former president during the 2024 general election during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp described Trump as “a lot better than Biden,” adding that those “serving in the administration would be a lot better” than those tapped by the Biden White House.
Read More