Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough will be in Atlanta today to rename the Atlanta VA Medical Center for the late U.S. Sen. Max Cleland.
McDonough also spoke at Cleland’s private funeral in 2021, when the former senator was remembered as not just a gregarious friend and son, but also a lifelong champion for active duty service members and veterans.
Cleland was an U.S. Army captain serving in Vietnam when he was grievously injured by a grenade explosion that cost him both legs and his right arm. He stood 6-foot-2 prior to the injury and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
After recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Cleland won a seat in the Georgia Senate. From there, his fellow Georgian, newly elected President Jimmy Carter, tapped Cleland, a Democrat, to head the Veterans Administration.
As a young veteran himself, Cleland worked to create a mental health support structure for returning vets that exists today as the Vets Center program. As a U.S. senator in office from 1997 to 2003, Cleland championed legislation to create the National Cemetery in Canton.
He was later appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the American Battle Monuments Commission to oversee American military cemeteries.
The ceremony today will include appearances by both of Georgia’s current U.S. senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who passed bipartisan legislation in 2022 to rename the medical center for Cleland.
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LISTEN UP. Students from the University of Georgia’s Political Science department were the ideal audience for a live taping of the Politically Georgia podcast from Athens.
We covered what’s next in the many trials of former President Donald Trump, a new set of RICO charges for a new set of defendants and a recent letter to the governor from Georgia mayors on gun violence. We also fielded questions from the astute students of Charles Bullock and Audrey Haynes, and named our who’s up and who’s down, including us for getting to go to Athens.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
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Credit: Amir Hamja/The New York Times
Credit: Amir Hamja/The New York Times
REPORT RELEASE. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis employed a deliberate process in considering election interference charges against former President Donald Trump and his allies. The method included convening a special grand jury in 2022 to hear evidence and make recommendations regarding a future indictment.
Their work, which spanned seven months and is chronicled in a report, ultimately led to another grand jury bringing charges against Trump and 18 others last month. All the special grand jury documents are to be released later today by a judge.
The report is expected to reveal details voiced by approximately 75 witnesses and the reasoning behind the grand jurors’ recommendations.
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THE ISAKSON WAY. Georgia politics has entered a new phase of Donald Trump-driven division. Even so, champions of pragmatism, cooperation and consensus remain, all eager to leave their imprint on the state.
The inaugural Isakson Symposium on Political Civility will bring them together on Nov. 10 at the University of Georgia Chapel. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, and Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, will be the featured speakers
The event is meant to pay tribute to the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and his legacy by encouraging future leaders to adopt his approach of seeking common political ground.
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
“Sen. Isakson represented the very best of public service during his more than 40 years in elected office, and a hallmark of his career was his ability to get results by reaching across the aisle and engaging in civil discourse,” said UGA President Jere Morehead of the symposium, which will be hosted by the School of Public and International Affairs.
Organizers said McConnell and Manchin were selected to honor their friendship with Isakson, who died in 2021 after decades in public office, and “their ability to navigate a polarized political landscape” at the highest reaches of government.
“I cannot think of a better way to carry on our dear friend’s legacy than by promoting discussion on this important topic,” McConnell said.
McConnell might seem an unlikely figure to highlight consensus after a history of clashes with Democrats, including his year-long effort to block then-President Barack Obama from filling a U.S. Supreme Court seat following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. But Democrats also prize McConnell’s aversion to the party’s far-right flank, his efforts to find compromise on appropriations bills to avoid government shutdowns, and his support for financial aid to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
John Isakson Jr. invoked his father’s personal motto — that there are two types of people in the world, “friends and future friends.”
“Nothing embodies his political and personal philosophy of ‘friends and future friends’ better than this effort,” he said, “which will continue to push for respectful discourse, political civility and productive compromise.”
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Credit: Valdosta Fire Department
Credit: Valdosta Fire Department
DISASTER RELIEF. President Joe Biden issued a formal disaster declaration for parts of Georgia late last night in response to damages done by Hurricane Idalia to farms, businesses and homes.
While other states have been pushing the White House for disaster declarations for earlier events, including wildfires, the Georgia declaration came quickly. The formal announcement will make federal dollars available for repairs, debris removal and other recovery efforts.
The declaration applies to Cook, Glynn and Lowndes counties, which sustained major damage in the storm.
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Credit: Michael Blackshire/AJC
Credit: Michael Blackshire/AJC
HAWAII DREAMING. Former President Donald Trump allies have long argued those involved in the Georgia false electors scheme — a group of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely claiming Trump won the 2020 election — were simply echoing what Hawaii Democrats tried in 1960.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pushed back on that narrative in court papers, saying in a legal filing Thursday that the comparison between the two efforts is “meaningless.”
The three false electors recently charged in the Fulton election interference indictment — Cathy Latham, former state GOP chair David Shafer and state Sen. Shawn Still — and their supporters have frequently linked their case to what unfolded in Hawaii in 1960 when Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon appeared to win the state by 140 votes.
Democrats challenged the Hawaii results, and a recount was still underway when presidential electors cast their votes. Electors for both Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy signed certificates backing their candidates. Kennedy wound up the winner by 115 votes once the recount concluded weeks later.
In the filing, Willis dismissed attempts to compare the two elections, noting that in 2020 Georgia had already completed two recounts and certified Biden’s victory when electors convened. She wrote that there’s “not guiding precedent here.”
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
CONGRESS WATCH. Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson will run for a suburban U.S. House seat that could be redrawn to favor Democrats if a federal judge rules that Republican lawmakers illegally diluted the voting power of Black Georgians.
A redistricting trial began Tuesday and is expected to last two weeks. The case revolves around district lines drawn last year by the Republican-held Legislature that resulted in a GOP candidate winning a U.S. House seat previously held by a Democrat. The plaintiffs argue the changes illegally weakened Black voters’ electoral power.
Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson plans to run for a suburban U.S. House seat that could be redrawn to favor Democrats if a federal judge rules that Republican lawmakers illegally diluted the voting power of Black Georgians. #gapol
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) September 7, 2023
https://t.co/PFpHd8ZqN2
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden arrives in New Delhi, India, for the G20 Leaders Summit and meets with India’s leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- The U.S. Senate is adjourned for the weekend and reconvenes Monday.
- The House returns from its August recess on Sept. 11. Congressman Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, will provide constituent services in a “mobile office” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Sugar Hill City Hall.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
‘MAKE MY DAY.’ The current thorn-in-the-side of Georgia Senate Republicans, Sen. Colton Moore, refused to flinch Thursday when asked about a rumored movement to expel him from the Senate GOP Caucus.
Moore, R-Trenton, has championed a special legislative session to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for her prosecutorial pursuit of former President Donald Trump and 18 others over election interference. Moore’s call has been rebuffed by Gov. Brian Kemp and other GOP leaders, prompting Moore to mount a series of verbal attacks on his colleagues.
Our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu stopped by an event organized by Moore on Thursday at the state Capitol. Asked if he was concerned that his fellow Republicans would seek to banish him at a Senate GOP Caucus meeting scheduled for early next week, Moore issued a challenge.
“My answer to your question and my answer to my fellow Republicans is, ‘make my day,’” he said. “Vote me out.”
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s time to meet some VIP pooches, people, namely Nimbus, Goomba, and Elphie Pinson, the uber-athletic trio who call Sara Beth and Andrew Pinson their people.
Andrew Pinson is, of course, a justice on the Georgia Supreme Court. But it’s Sara Beth, a professional dog trainer, who gets the credit for the achievements of these three pups.
Elphie, a two-year-old Australian shepherd has competed in the disc dog international finals with Justice Pinson (who knew?). Four-year-old Goomba is a husky mix who takes Justice Pinson through the paces on agility courses (again, who knew?). And Nimbus is a nine-year-old border collie mix who now roots his pals on, like all great retirees, knowing that he was better at everything in his heyday.
To the entire Pinson pack, you’re our Dogs of the Day.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and location, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
