When he was governor, Sonny Perdue liked to tell Georgians that he was a businessman long before he was a politician. That attribute appealed to President Donald Trump, who nominated Perdue to be his agriculture secretary.

The former governor’s cousin, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, built his fortune as a corporate turnaround specialist, helping revive struggling companies like Dollar General.

But a business venture by the politically powerful cousins ended badly in 2015, leaving behind millions of dollars in debts and thousands of dollars in delinquent taxes, according to a review of records by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Read the full story at myajc.com

Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is a leading contender to serve as Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary

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A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The plane is chartered to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. (Yonhap via AP)

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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