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 (pictured above) announced his 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.

After previously floating the idea of removing him from the Senate Republican Caucus earlier this month, the Georgia Senate Republicans issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, declaring the overwhelming majority of elected Republicans “agree that a Special Session… is impossible,” and claiming Moore “knowingly misled people” to advance his “ill-conceived proposal,” and violated “multiple Caucus Rules” in the process.

The Senate Republicans claimed Moore refused to adhere to these rules and thus “was suspended by Leadership” until Moore “agrees to abide by the Rules” once again. The Republican senators clarify that this limits Moore’s ability to caucus with fellow Republicans and does not eject him from the Georgia Senate or the Republican Party.

Moore seemed to directly respond to the claim that a special session is not possible in a statement obtained by Breitbart News. Moore said Georgia’s constitution “clearly outlines the legislature’s power to call an emergency session to investigate a judicial officer” and accused Georgia’s Republican senators of “acting like children.”

In a statement posted to X after he was removed from the caucus, Moore described the action as retaliation for his “call to fight back against the Trump witch hunts” and pledge to “stand by my Republican principles.”

“The people of Georgia are 100 percent with me,” Moore wrote, describing the push to defund or impeach Willis as “the fight of our lifetime.”

Georgia State Freedom Caucus director Mallory Staples told The Georgia Star News that Senate Leadership communicated “with absolute clarity where they stand in the fight against a weaponized government that attacks its people.”

“We, the voters, got their message and we expect every one of them to be voted out next year,” Staples told The Star News, adding that Georgia activists “stand with President Trump, the other 18 indictees, as well as Senator Colton Moore.”

On social media, Staples described the decision as “disgusting” and “shameful,” and wrote that she “cannot wait for primary season.”

Moore’s plan for a special session received intense criticism from Georgia Republicans, including Governor Brian Kemp, who described it as a “grifter scam” shortly after it was announced. State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) ultimately sided with Kemp, and his district became a target of Moore’s activists.

– – –

Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Colton Moore” by Colton Moore. Background Photo “Georgia State Senate Chamber” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.

 

 

 

Related posts

Comments