Former Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones is expected to announce Friday that he will again run for office next year — but this time to challenge current Gov. Brian Kemp. Jones tweeted Thursday that he will host a national press conference at 10 a.m. Friday at the Georgia State Capitol, Liberty Plaza. Jones said he will address “his future efforts to put Georgia first.”
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Republican officials in two Georgia counties this week formally censured Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on the grounds that they betrayed former U.S. President Donald Trump last November. Conservative activist Debbie Dooley told The Georgia Star News Wednesday that the GOP pushback against those three Georgia officials has only just begun.
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U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) this month visited the U.S.-Mexico border and described what he saw as “a complete and total disaster” that threatens national security. Carter, in an emailed newsletter to his constituents, said he joined other members of Congress and toured U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services facilities in Brownsville, Donna, and McAllen, Texas.
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A group directly linked to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated nearly $5.6 million to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office last year. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger spent that money on the 2020 presidential election.
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Georgia officials announced Sunday that SK Innovation will continue to operate its battery manufacturing plant in Jackson County, thus saving 2,600 jobs. Gov. Brian Kemp announced the news in an emailed statement.
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U.S. President Joe Biden may have to decide this week whether to overturn an International Trade Commission ruling against SK Innovation and, thus, save thousands of jobs in northeast Georgia directly tied to the project. More than 2,500 Georgia jobs are at stake at this Electric Vehicle (EV) battery plant in Commerce.
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Buckhead residents who have organized and wish to secede from Atlanta said this week that they are diverse and their ties to that larger city bring crime and one horror story after. Members of this group, the Buckhead Exploratory Committee (BEOC), also said that they are serious about wanting to leave.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday announced that he had referred three counties for investigation after they bucked state law and failed to do their absentee ballot transfer forms from last November’s presidential election. Raffensperger, in a press release, identified those three counties as Coffee, Grady, and Taylor. The three counties account for only 0.37 percent of all absentee ballots cast in last year’s election, he said.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan this week and suggested Democrats in the state got the better of them. “Too bad the desperately needed election reforms in Georgia didn’t go further, as their originally approved bill did, but the governor and lieutenant governor would not go for it. The watered-down version, that was just passed and signed by Governor Kemp, while better than before, doesn’t have signature matching and many other safety measures, which were sadly left out. This bill should have been passed before the 2020 Presidential Election, not after,” Trump said in a written statement.
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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reportedly wants Hollywood to leave Georgia and set up shop in his state. Murphy cited Georgia’s new voter integrity law, SB 202, as the reason.
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U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) posted — and then deleted — the following tweet on Easter Sunday: “The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves.”
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More corporations are speaking out against Georgia’s voter reform law, otherwise known as Senate Bill 202. Officials at Microsoft, American Express, Google and others this week condemned SB 202 as a form of voter suppression.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday told Major League Baseball officials and executives at Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines that he will not buckle under to their pressure. Kemp, flanked by several supporters at the Georgia State Capitol, said he will not do away with the state’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202. The governor also told state residents that Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is lying about the new law and fundraising off of her lies.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday evening said Major League Baseball officials caved “to fear, political opportunism, and liberal lies.” This, after MLB officials announced earlier in the day that they will relocate the 2021 All-Star Game and MLB Draft, originally scheduled for Atlanta, to another location. They specifically cited Georgia’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202.
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Members of a nationwide group pushing for The Green New Deal have planned rallies and demonstrations throughout the country for Wednesday, April 7. The activists in this group, The Sunrise Movement, will hold one rally in Atlanta and another in Knoxville on Wednesday, according to its website.
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Members of the Georgia House of Representatives this week struck back at Delta Airlines and decided not to renew a jet fuel tax credit that they bestow upon the company. The vote, however, was merely symbolic. Delta still has the tax credit.
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Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer on Wednesday tweeted photos of masked and armed individuals standing outside the Georgia Capitol. Their identities remained a mystery Thursday, even to officials at the Georgia Department of Public Safety (GDPS).
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Delta Airlines, according to its website, requires its passengers prove they are who they say they are and present a government-issued ID. Coca-Cola officials, according to their corporate website, mandated that anyone who attended their 2020 annual shareholders’ meeting also present proper identification.
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In Savannah this week, a Russian national and his engineering company have admitted to charges that they violated U.S. national security laws. This, according to a press release that staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia published on their website this week.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week defended the state’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202, this time before a national audience. This, as certain right-leaning news outlets called out Democrats for grossly mischaracterizing the law and what it does.
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A Georgia state senator this week responded to the newly-passed Senate Bill 202 voter reform measure with a bill of her own. Georgia State Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta) this week filed a bill that she said would give county election supervisors and local elections boards the option to allow out-of-precinct voting on Election Day.
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Georgia U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) is co-sponsoring a bill that proposes to encourage businesses to head back to American shores. Ferguson said America needs this during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A Georgia woman has admitted to creating a fake business and using it to receive funding from a federal COVID-19 small business relief program.
This, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia published this month.
Tracy Kirkland, 40, of Swainsboro, pled guilty to an Information charging her with wire fraud, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
“As described in court documents and testimony, in August 2020 Kirkland received a federally guaranteed loan for $66,400 under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program comprised of funds appropriated by the CARES Act,” the press release said.
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A new Georgia voter integrity law that requires, among other things, voter ID on absentee ballots, has prompted talk that Major League Baseball and the Professional Golfers’ Association might cancel major events in the Peach State. And at least one major Hollywood director said he now wants nothing to do with Georgia.
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Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel this week defended Georgia Senate Bill 202, which Democrats nationwide have described as a form of voter suppression. As The Georgia Star News reported Saturday, this new voter reform law requires the following:
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U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) said recent mass shootings are “a symptom of a profound moral crisis in America – one that cannot be easily solved by simply passing law after law in Washington.”
“George Washington said that ‘religion and morality are indispensable supports’ of a prosperous nation. These two great pillars have been driven from public life, and until they are restored, we cannot remedy the brutal absence of compassion in our society that leads to mass shootings. We must renew our love and faith in both God and each other,” Hice told constituents in an emailed newsletter this week.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday published a lengthy defense of the state’s new Republican-sponsored election reform bill, which legislators passed Thursday. According to Kemp’s Facebook page, the new law requires the following:
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KENNESAW, Georgia — Corey Lewandowski, who advises former U.S. President Donald Trump, updated Georgians about Trump’s frame of mind since he left office and the hostile feelings that establishment media figures hold toward the former president’s supporters.
Lewandowski was one of several people who spoke at a launch party at Kennesaw’s Marietta Country Club for the new Freedom WMLB 1690. The station broadcasts to Atlanta audiences through the John Fredericks Radio Network (JFRN).
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KENNESAW, Georgia — Georgia conservatives will only win hearts and minds if they fight, display passion, and testify how their ideas and policies can and will shape and impact voters’ personal lives — for the better. That was the message that several speakers relayed Wednesday night at a launch…
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Democrats who represent Georgia in the state’s general assembly as well as the U.S. Congress said this week that recent mass shootings, including the one in Atlanta, necessitate either more gun control or hate crimes laws. State Sen. Michelle Au (D-Johns Creek), for instance, filed SB 309, a bill this week that would, if enacted into law, mandate a five-day waiting period for anyone who wants to purchase or transfer certain firearms.
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Georgia State Sen. John Albers (R-Alpharetta) this week accused members of The Lincoln Project of telling falsehoods about him— falsehoods that reportedly cost him his job at an Atlanta-based law firm. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that Albers had to resign from the Fisher Phillips Law Firm.
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Members of the Georgia General Assembly filed various bills this week that would, if enacted into law, require law enforcement agencies to speak in languages other than English when working with members of the public. The first bill, SB 308, calls on the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority (GECA) and the state’s 911 systems to have a statewide system of language translation services. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Sen. Sheikh Rahman (D-Lawrenceville) as the bill’s primary sponsor. Nineteen other state senators, all Democrats, are co-sponsoring the bill.
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U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) announced Monday that he wants to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and will run for Raffensperger’s seat. Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in a written statement, promptly endorsed Hice’s candidacy.
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Members of The Young Americans Foundation and Campus Reform this week reported that a University of Georgia professor told his students not to cite conservative-leaning news sources, such as FOX News. Both groups identified that man as Scott Connelly, a UGA ecology professor.
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Georgia Power officials announced a new initiative this month to provide drivers of electric vehicles with charging stations around the state.
But in a press release, Georgia Power officials did not describe whether enough people in the state drive electric vehicles to justify the investment.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) this week praised a deal involving a Georgia electric cooperative and a Tennessee-based solar power company, the latter of which has a history of alleged ethics violations. This, according to a press release that members of Duncan’s staff published on his website.
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A new bill in the Georgia General Assembly would, if enacted into law, limit the ability of city housing authorities to operate outside municipal boundaries without authorization. Georgia State Sen. Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) is the bill’s primary sponsor, according to the legislature’s website.
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The Georgia Secretary of State official who was the anonymous source for a Washington Post story about former U.S. President Donald Trump — a story that people now discredit — said Tuesday the paper got the story correct.
This, aside from a few minor mistakes, said Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs, the anonymous source, as The Post confirmed last week.
The Post story cited Trump’s phone call late last year with Georgia Secretary of State Chief Investigator Frances Watson. During that call, Trump urged Watson to look for fraudulent mail-in ballots in Fulton County. The paper said Trump’s conduct and words — which the paper now admits it took out of context — constituted criminal behavior.
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Buckhead residents have formed a new group to study whether their upscale commercial and residential district should formally break off from Atlanta and its soaring crime rate and possibly create their own law enforcement agency. This, according to the members of this group, The Buckhead Exploratory Committee, on their website.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) told a nationally-televised audience Sunday that his fellow Republicans should move past former U.S. President Donald Trump and forget passing certain election reform bills. Duncan said this on NBC’s Meet the Press.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week asked U.S. President Joe Biden to overturn the International Trade Commission ruling against SK Innovation to save thousands of jobs in northeast Georgia directly tied to the project. Kemp formally requested this in a letter Friday. He attached a copy of his letter to the president in an emailed press release.
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Georgia State Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) is reportedly no longer the designated attorney for Hancock County because of voter integrity legislation he’s filed with the Georgia General Assembly. This, according to the Atlanta-based Georgia Public Broadcasting.
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Top officials in Georgia’s film industry this week praised the state as a place where it’s easy to do business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they said government officials in other states made their jobs difficult. These individuals addressed members of the State House Creative Arts & Entertainment Committee this week.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump this week suggested that Georgia native and Heisman Trophy winner Hershel Walker represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the legendary Herschel Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia?” Trump asked in a statement this week.
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If you live in Atlanta and want to monitor local law enforcement officers through the Atlanta Citizen Review Board then city officials, per policy, can exclude you from serving if you are a convicted felon. But they cannot exclude you if you have never registered to vote.
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Six Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly filed a bill this week that calls on state officials to expand access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. According to that bill, HB 741, those Democrats also want to make eligible people convicted of felony drug charges. The bill also would, if enacted into law, increase the lifetime maximum for TANF benefits and stipulate that the government could disregard a person’s assets when determining eligibility.
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Six Georgia House Republicans filed legislation that would provide for a probate court judge to cease acting as a superintendent of elections and then create a board of elections to assume that judge’s prior responsibilities. This, according to a bill that State Rep. Mitchell Scroggins (R-Cartersville) filed this week.
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Six Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly filed legislation late last week that would, if enacted into law, forbid private corporations from running detention facilities. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Rep. Donna McLeod (D-Lawrenceville) as the bill’s primary sponsor.
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Left-leaning groups have demanded that Georgia’s largest corporate entities, including Coca-Cola and Home Depot, fight two bills in the Georgia General Assembly, which they describe as racist. Members of this coalition made their demands in a full-page ad in The Atlanta Journal Constitution last week. The coalition called out Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, Southern Company, Home Depot, UPS, Aflac, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce.
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Members of the Georgia State Senate Government Oversight Committee this week passed two pieces of legislation that they said will restrict public officials from certain privileges if and when any court officials indict them on felony charges. State Sen. Larry Walker (R-Perry) sponsored both bills, according to the Georgia General Assembly’s website.
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