Category: LEAD

Judge Cautions Fulton County Prosecutors over Witness Requirements, Expects Trial May Take Five Months

Tom Pappert

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

Fulton County Sheriff’s Office Confirms Ex-Guard Accused of Strangling Detainee Is ‘Biologically a Female,’ Mug Shot Shows Person with Beard and Receding Hairline

Tom Pappert

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

Georgia Senate GOP Caucus Votes to Remove State Senator Who Wants to Defund, Impeach Fani Willis

Tom Pappert

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

Anti-Trump Lawyer Slams ‘Unnecessary’ and ‘Partisan’ Indictments from Fani Willis

Tom Pappert

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

Georgia Prosecutors Claim Mark Meadows Was ‘Meddling’ in ‘Matters of State Authority’ After 2020 Election

Tom Pappert

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

Gov. Brian Kemp Will Back Trump if Nominated in 2024: ‘A Lot Better Than Biden’ and ‘Can Win Georgia’

Tom Pappert

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

Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon Appoints Julianne Thompson to Serve as His Special Advisor

Kaitlin Housler

Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Josh McKoon recently announced his appointment of Julianne Thompson to serve as special advisor to the chairman.

Thompson previously served the GAGOP as communications director and press secretary. In addition, she served as a legislative aide to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Constitution, received two Gubernatorial appointments, and has been listed in Who’s Who Among Outstanding Young Women in America.

Read More

Continetti Says Georgia Could Be ‘Most Important State’ in 2024

The Center Square

Georgia is likely “the most important state in American politics” heading into the 2024 election, a leading intellectual historian said.

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in 2018 and decidedly defeated her in a rematch in November to win a second term. He won despite drawing former President Donald Trump’s ire for his response to the 2020 election.

Read More

Lawyer Indicted in Georgia Trump Case Warns Fani Willis Violated Attorney-Client Privilege, Wants Evidence Stricken

Tom Pappert

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro argued that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may have violated his privileged communications with clients during her blanket search of his email account, according to legal filing made by his lawyers on Thursday.

Chesebro, who is among those indicted by Willis in her racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election, alleged that Willis and her office violated Georgia law when it gained blanket access to Chesebro’s email account in July, according to his lawyers’ filing. Chesebro is asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to suppress any evidence gathered from those emails.

Read More

Investigator at Fani Willis’s Office Accidentally Shot Herself in Fulton County Courthouse

Tom Pappert

An investigator working for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office shot herself on Friday while at the Fulton County Courthouse. The investigator, who works in the office of District Attorney Fani Willis, was not critically injured in the accidental discharge.

Read More

Georgia Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Collins Receive ‘F’ Grades on Pro-Ukraine Scorecard

Tom Pappert

Georgia Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) and Mike Collins (R-GA-10) received failing grades from Republicans for Ukraine, a group that lobbies for the Republican Party to continue its support for the Eastern European country.

Greene and Collins both received “F” grades from the Republicans for Ukraine, while Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) received a “C” grade for his allegedly lukewarm support.

Read More

Mark Meadows Argues Fani Willis ‘Committed Errors’ in ‘Unnecessary’ Effort to Keep Case in Fulton County

Tom Pappert

Mark Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff for the Trump administration, argued in a Monday legal filing that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “committed errors” that raise “serious constitutional concerns” in her “unnecessarily complicated” attempts to prevent his case from being removed to a federal court.

Meadows has repeatedly asserted the case brought against him by Fulton County should be tried in a federal court, citing his position as a government employee who answered directly to former President Donald Trump when his alleged offenses were committed. U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones denied various attempts from Meadows to remove the case, but late last week the 11th Circuit announced it would hear his appeal and grant it expedited status.

Read More

Senator Raphael Warnock Asks Atlanta to be Lenient on Petitions to Stop Public Safety Training Center

Tom Pappert

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) wrote a letter to the City of Atlanta on Friday asking officials to be lenient when examining the petitions gathered to force a public referendum on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

In his letter, Warnock reportedly advised Atlanta he is “closely monitoring” the petition, and claimed to be “concerned” the city’s signature matching and verification process “led to discrimination” and potential “disenfranchisement of eligible voters” during previous ballot initiatives. Warnock urged Atlanta “to err on the side of giving the people the ability to express their views” and to establish “clear and transparent timelines and requirements” going forward.

Read More

Georgia’s Infant Mortality Rate Remains Among the Nation’s Worst

The Center Square

Georgia’s infant mortality rate may be improving, but it remains among the worst.

“The infant mortality rate in Georgia is not good,” Seema Csukas, vice president & chief medical officer at CareSource Georgia, told The Center Square. “We’re typically in the bottom quartile of states in terms of the infant mortality rate. We’ve made a little progress over the past decade, but not really. We’ve gotten a little better, then gotten a little worse — so not that much change.

Read More

Nearly Four in 10 Georgians Out of the Workforce

The Center Square

While state officials continue to tout the state’s low unemployment, numbers show nearly 39% percent of Georgia’s working-age population isn’t participating in the workforce.

On Thursday, state officials said Georgia’s August unemployment rate was 3.3%, a slight increase from July’s revised 3.2% rate. The state’s rate is lower than the 3.8% national unemployment rate.

Read More

Majority of Georgia Voters Say Trump Prosecution Unfair, Support Special Session to Reign in Fulton County

Tom Pappert

A majority of Georgia voters now believe the Fulton County criminal case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election is “unfair,” according to new polling by Rasmussen Reports. Georgia voters also support a special session in the Georgia Legislature to defund or impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The majority of Georgia voters believe Trump is being unfairly prosecuted, with 56 percent of respondents to Rasmussen agreeing, including 39 percent who said it was “very likely.” This is compared with just 37 percent of voters who said it was unlikely Trump was being unfairly prosecuted.

Read More

40,000 Fulton County Criminal Cases ‘Frozen’ Because Fani Willis ‘Blindly’ Pursuing Trump, Says Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler

Tom Pappert

During an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show” on Thursday, former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler said the criminal justice system of Fulton County is “frozen,” with the county jail overcrowded and 40,000 criminal cases in the backlog, because District Attorney Fani Willis is “blindly” pursuing her cases against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election.

Loeffler told host John Fredericks, the publisher of The Georgia Star News, that Willis’s actions suggest “a two tiered system of justice” and said the Georgia Legislature should encourage the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC) to fully investigate Willis, including how she is spending taxpayer money.

Read More

Georgia Trump Case Severed from Powell, Chesebro in First Major Blow to Fani Willis

Tom Pappert

The criminal case in Fulton County, Georgia against lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell was severed from the greater indictment against former President Donald Trump and the other 17 defendants on Thursday morning, representing the first major blow to District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

Read More

One Trial with 19 Defendants Only ‘Feasible’ Option to Prosecute Georgia Trump Case, Fani Willis Claims

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis claimed the only “feasible” way to prosecute former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants is in one, unified case on Wednesday. Willis said separating the cases, as multiple defendants have requested, would “create an enormous strain” for Fulton County.

Willis, in a legal filing submitted with colleagues F. McDonald Wakeford and Alex Bernick, argued to preserve the case against Trump and the other defendants who helped him contest the 2020 election. The filing was submitted to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday.

Read More

Georgia Activists Knock on Doors in Republican Strongholds to Fuel Special Session Push

Tom Pappert

Conservative activists in Georgia are knocking on doors in the districts of House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) and senators who have vocally opposed the petition for a special session created by Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton), according to Georgia State Freedom Caucus Director Mallory Staples, with the aim of pressuring more legislators into backing the nascent effort.

Staples announced the plans to door knock on “The John Fredericks Show” last Friday, indicating the activists planned to start on Monday, and will target the most vocal opponents of Moore’s petition for a special session.

Read More

Faith and Freedom Coalition Identifies Key Issues for Evangelical, Conservative Voters in 2024

Tom Pappert

Faith & Freedom Coalition executive director Timothy Head outlined what he believes are the key issues for faith-based voters in the state as the second Republican presidential debate, and the 2024 presidential election, in an interview with The Georgia Star News on Friday.

Head told The Georgia Star News that Fulton County’s racketeering case against former President Donald Trump looms large over Georgia’s political landscape, likely drawing even more Republicans in The Peach State to the former president, but added that the economy will likely be the single, largest issue in voters’ minds as they cast ballots in 2024.

Read More

Hospital System in Georgia Replaces Christmas Eve with Juneteenth on Paid Holiday Calendar

Kaitlin Housler

Emory Healthcare replaced Christmas Eve with Juneteenth on the paid holiday calendar for employees last week, according to a memo from the hospital’s CEO, Joon S. Lee.

The healthcare system, which displays “We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion” on its website as one of its values, is the largest in the Peach State, with more than 425 provider locations and 24,000 employees.

Read More

Trump Questions ‘Credibility’ of Fulton County After Grand Jury Recommended Charges for Lt. Gov. Jones, Former Georgia Senators

Tom Pappert

Former President Donald Trump released a statement expressing further doubts in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and her office, after the grand jury report for the racketeering case against him was made public. The report revealed that, in addition to the 19 charged by Willis, charges were recommended for additional 20 people, including Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones, former Republican Georgia Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Trump wrote that the grand jury report has “zero credibility and badly taints” Willis, and her case against him, in a post on Truth Social. The report, according to Trump, “undermines the credibility of the findings, and badly hurts the Great State of Georgia.”

Read More

Liberty Safe Changes Access Code Policy After January 6 Controversy, Will Now Require Law Enforcement Subpoena

Tom Pappert

Liberty Safe, the company currently facing backlash for giving the access code to a safe owned by a January 6 defendant to the FBI, announced a change to its company policy yesterday regarding how it complies with law enforcement in the wake of the controversy.

Read More

Fani Willis to Call 150 Witnesses over Four Month Trial in Georgia RICO Case Against Trump, Allies

Tom Pappert

Wednesday marked the first, live-streamed hearing in Fulton County’s racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants who aided his 2020 election contest, and prosecutors revealed that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis intends to call 150 witnesses over a four-month trial slated to begin on October 23.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee originally planned for the hearing to include arraignments, but all 19 defendants waived their right to arraignment and entered not guilty pleas before the court appearance. Instead, Judge McAfee heard attorneys for Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro invoke their clients’ rights to a speedy trial, specifically requesting to be severed from each other and the other defendants in the case.

Read More

Georgia Charges 61 People with RICO Indictment over Atlanta Public Training Center Protests

Tom Pappert

More than 60 people have been indicted by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) as part of an alleged criminal conspiracy related to protests of Atlanta’s new Public Safety Training Center.

Public officials confirmed that 61 individuals were indicted as part of a racketeering case tied to the protests on Tuesday, and charging documents claim an organized criminal effort to derail the police and public safety training facility began as early as 2020. The case will be prosecuted by Carr using the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Read More

Report: Fani Willis Has Transcript Exonerating Former Trump Lawyer Ray Smith, Former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is reportedly in possession of a meeting transcript that exonerates two defendants named in her August 14 indictment against former President Donald Trump, his former lawyers, and Georgians involved in his effort to contest the 2020 presidential election.

A transcript of a December 14, 2020 meeting of those involved in the effort to create alternative Trump delegates in Georgia for the 2020 election, reviewed by The Federalist, reveals that Shafer and former Trump attorney Ray Smith specifically planned to act as “Republican nominees for Presidential Elector,” and not “duly elected and qualified” electors, in what seems to be a direct contradiction to Willis’s indictment.

Read More

As Georgia Lawmakers Grapple with Truck Driver Shortage, New Training Center Breaks Ground

The Center Square

Georgia Piedmont Technical College broke ground on a 24,000-square-foot Regional Transportation Training Center in Stonecrest.

The facility should open to students in the fall of 2024. With this addition, officials said the school has room to double its commercial truck driving program enrollment.

Read More

Group Wants Gov. Kemp to Reject THC Changes for Georgia Independent Pharmacies

The Center Square

A former White House drug policy advisor wants Georgia’s governor to reject a rule change to allow some independent pharmacies to sell low THC oils.

In June, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy voted in favor of the rule change to allow more than 100 independent pharmacies to sell THC oils.

Read More

Fourth Inmate Found Dead at Fulton County Jail in August

Kaitlin Housler

Another inmate was recently found dead in their cell in the Fulton County Jail, according to a press release by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).

On Wednesday, the FCSO announced that inmate Samuel Lawrence, age 34, was found unresponsive in his unit cell on August 26 at approximately 4:20 p.m. as detention officers were conducting dinner rounds.

Read More

Gov. Brian Kemp Rejects Calls to Dismiss Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Georgia Star News Staff

On Thursday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) said at a press conference that he would not support efforts to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from office following her indictment of President Donald Trump.

As reported by Breitbart, Kemp referred to such efforts as “political theater,” after a Republican state senator had already vowed to take action against Willis. Willis’ indictment included 41 different charges against President Trump and 18 campaign surrogates, lawyers, and other prominent allies.

Read More

Trump Pleads Not Guilty in Georgia Election Case After Waiving Arraignment

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 13 felony charges related to his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, and he waived his right to appear in court in Fulton County next week.

Trump was scheduled to be arraigned in Georgia on Sept. 6 alongside 18 co-defendants on charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, as well as charges of making false statements and soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office, among other things.

Read More

Giuliani Loses Georgia Election Workers’ Defamation Lawsuit by Default

Just the News

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani lost by default Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers and a judge imposed sanctions on him in the case. 

In a scathing 57-page ruling, federal Judge Beryl Howell criticized Giuliani for not producing evidence as required for the case filed by election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, resulting in the default loss.

Read More

Trump’s Lead Grows Following Georgia Indictment, Poll Shows

Kaitlin Housler

Former President Donald Trump is leading the field of candidates in the 2024 GOP presidential primary among Georgia voters, according to a new poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The poll surveyed 807 likely Republican primary voters in Georgia from August 16-23.

Read More

Georgia State Senators Spar on Special Session over Trump Indictment

The Center Square

While one Georgia state senator wants a special session to potentially act on the district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump, another says it’s impossible.

Last week, State Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, sent a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, calling for a special session “for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis.”

Read More

Activists Decry Plan to Check Every Signature on Petition to ‘Stop Cop City’

Kaitlin Housler

Activist groups across Georgia have denounced the City of Atlanta’s decision to use signature matching in order to verify signatures on a petition that would allow voters to decide on the fate of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

Read More

Georgia Officials Able to Hire HEROs for Atlanta Area Highway Patrols

The Center Square

The Georgia Department of Transportation has found a few HEROs to help patrol metro Atlanta’s highways.

In May, GDOT officials said the agency lacked the personnel to maintain 24-hour Highway Emergency Response Operator patrols, a common sight along metro Atlanta’s busy interstates. At the time, the agency said HERO units would continue to patrol when traffic volumes are the highest — during daytime and evening hours seven days a week — and when roughly 91% of mishaps happen.

Read More

Georgia Groups Turn Attention to Tax Overhaul

The Center Square

As the state looks to evaluate and possibly overhaul its tax system, one state public policy group says officials should improve the tax credit system’s transparency.

“The state has taken a vital step toward creating a fairer tax system by convening this panel and by implementing specific legislative provisions like the one in 2021’s SB 6 that provided for the analyses of tax benefits,” Georgia Budget and Policy Institute President and CEO Staci Fox said in a statement. “While these measures are commendable, past evaluations of tax credits have run into resource and information limitations that hindered meaningful findings and the identification of actionable next steps.

Read More

Trump Co-Defendant John Eastman Turns Himself in to Fulton County Officials in 2020 Election Case

Just the News

Attorney John Eastman turned himself in Tuesday to the Fulton County jail, records show, after he was indicted last week alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 other co-conspirators for their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Read More

Georgia Unemployment Remains Below National Average as Initial Claims Rise

The Center Square

Georgia’s July unemployment rate was 3.2%, unchanged from June’s revised rate, even as more Georgians filed initial unemployment claims.

The state’s unemployment rate is also lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.5%. In July, Georgians filed 31,410 initial claims for unemployment benefits, up 34%, or 7,933, from a month earlier and 2,865 from last year.

Read More

Georgia School Board Fires Teacher Who Read Book on Gender Identity to Fifth Graders

Georgia Star News Staff

A Georgia school board voted Thursday to fire a teacher who read her fifth-grade students a book on gender identity, according to The Associated Press.

In March, Katie Rinderle, a fifth-grade teacher at Cobb County School District, says she got in trouble for reading her class “My Shadow is Purple,” a picture book about a child who discovers they are neither a girl or a boy, according to the AP. The Cobb County School Board voted 4-3 to fire Rinderle, finding that the teacher had violated the state’s divisive concepts law, which bars educators from giving lessons on race and “espousing personal political beliefs.”

Read More

Georgia State Senator Asks for Emergency Session to Investigate Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Kaitlin Housler

Georgia State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) sent a letter to Governor Brian Kemp calling on him to convene an emergency session to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

“We, the undersigned, being duly elected members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Senate, and comprising 3/5 of each respective house, pursuant to Article IV, Section II, Paragraph VII(b), hereby certify to you, in writing, with a copy to the Secretary of State, that in our opinion an emergency exists in the affairs of the state, requiring a special session to be convened under that section, for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis,” Moore wrote in his letter on Thursday.

Read More

Commentary: Trump’s Claims of Election Misconduct Were Never Adjudicated in Georgia

Admin

In a post to his locals.com page Georgia attorney Robert Barnes took subscribers on a little trip down memory lane about the 2020 Georgia election challenges.

Read More

Georgia GOP Chairman Calls Fulton County DA ‘Power-Mad’ over Trump Indictment

Kaitlin Housler

Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Josh McKoon slammed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as a “power-mad prosecutor” this week after former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted for their alleged roles in attempting to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election.

Read More