5 questions about the FBI’s seizure of Fulton County election documents
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- House Republicans will unveil a plan to stop using QR codes to count ballots.
- Geoff Duncan hires a new campaign manager with ties to a Democratic rival.
- Christian Hurd drops out of crowded field to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene.
FBI fallout
Nearly a week has passed since federal agents descended on a Fulton County election warehouse to seize about 650 boxes crammed with ballots and other documents from the 2020 vote. We still have plenty of questions. Here are a few:
1. Will there be criminal charges?
President Donald Trump’s comments last week that investigators “got a signed judge’s order in Georgia and you’re going to see some interesting things happening” did little to suggest this would soon blow over.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche won’t answer whether he expects charges, saying Sunday on CNN that it’s “a criminal investigation, so it’s tightly held, as it must be under the law.”
A reminder: three tallies upheld Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 victory in Georgia with no evidence of widespread fraud. Nothing in the public record suggests a crime was committed during the counting of Georgia’s ballots.
2. Why was Tulsi Gabbard there?
The director of national intelligence arrived at the Union City facility hours after FBI agents began scouring the building. She would not speak to reporters.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Gabbard is leading the administration’s effort to “hunt for proof of tampering in the election that Trump lost.”
Confronted with questions about her visit, Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash that he didn’t know why she was there.
“She is not part of the grand jury investigation, but she is for sure a key part of our efforts at election integrity and making sure that we have free and fair elections,” he said.
3. Will Trump allies try to take over Fulton’s elections?
Democrats have long feared Trump’s fixation on his 2020 defeat would serve as a pretext for a state takeover of the county’s elections. Several Trump supporters on the State Board of Elections told us they haven’t ruled out the idea.
4. How will mainstream Republicans respond?
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger broke his silence this morning by renewing his call for a national voting overhaul and urging Republicans to focus on the future.
But we still haven’t heard from other Republicans at the center of Trump’s rage over their refusal to help him overturn the election results. Gov. Brian Kemp has yet to comment publicly. Neither has Attorney General Chris Carr, another candidate for governor.
5. How will this affect the midterm races?
Democrats see this as another dramatic escalation of Trump’s never-ending effort to relitigate his 2020 defeat — and a warning sign for voting rights ahead of November.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, in a tough reelection battle against three Republicans, said this morning that voters “need to be prepared for Trump to continue abusing his power in an attempt to undermine Georgians’ voting rights.”
“I challenge my Republican opponents Buddy Carter, Derek Dooley, and Mike Collins to answer a simple question: Did Donald Trump win the state of Georgia in 2020?”
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic front-runner for governor, said MAGA Republicans are focused on the wrong fight.
“I’ve not gotten a single question from a voter anywhere in this state about the integrity of the 2020 election. What I have gotten questions about are issues around affordability, about access to health care.”
Things to know
Good morning! Four years ago, state Reps. Todd Jones and Esther Panitch launched the first legislative Shabbat service. Now it has become a can’t miss event. This year’s event on Friday drew four Democratic gubernatorial candidates — Keisha Lance Bottoms, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves and Michael Thurmond — and about 60 other politicos and judges.
Here are four things to know for today:
- Metro Atlanta local governments are slowly examining what reparations to Black residents harmed from slavery could look like, the AJC’s Alia Pharr reports.
- Gov. Brian Kemp has proposed $50 million to combat homelessness, a proposal that surprised advocacy groups and local officials, the AJC’s Riley Bunch and Greg Bluestein report.
- Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is ramping up his investigation of the First Liberty Building & Loan fraud case even as state lawmakers consider stripping him of his investigative powers, Bluestein reports.
QR Codes
House Republicans today are expected to finally reveal their plan to stop using QR codes to count votes in Georgia.
Details are scarce, but we know the plan appears to be at odds with a proposal from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, adding to the mounting opposition he continues to find at the state Capitol as he runs for governor.
To catch you up: a state law takes effect this summer requiring Georgia to stop using QR codes to count ballots. But until today, there has been no legislative plan and, more importantly, no funding to do this.
A House study committee met last year to examine Georgia’s election procedures. State Rep Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia, tells us that the committee is expected to release its preliminary report today. After that, the House Governmental Affairs Committee, which Anderson chairs, will have hearing on the proposed legislation.
Anderson didn’t give details about what the legislation would do. But he ruled out Raffensperger’s plan, which calls for using QR codes on election night to quickly get results followed by another count in the days after the election that that did not use the codes.
“While on the surface, it looks like a fairly easy, doable plan, there are some legitimate challenges to making that happen,” Anderson said.
Georgia 2026
Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s campaign for governor is adding another seasoned Democratic operative to its team — and this one has deep ties to Duncan’s top rival in the May primary.
Reese Adams McCranie has joined Duncan’s bid as campaign manager. He previously was statewide deputy director for President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and was a key aide to former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
But most notably, McCranie was a senior adviser to former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic front-runner in the race for governor.
“Geoff Duncan has the best chance for Democrats to win the Governor’s seat for the first time in nearly three decades so we can finally address the affordability crisis facing our state,” McCranie said.
Also on Monday, Duncan’s campaign announced an endorsement from Lani Wong, who has helped mobilize Asian American voters in past Georgia elections.
No-shows
We told you last week that Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger drew a sharp swipe from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for skipping a pair of legislative hearings. Now Jones’ allies are pressing his two GOP rivals to show up.
Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery penned a letter to Carr asking him to brief his committee on Thursday.
“I am confident your absence was not intentional and you had a genuine reason to delay your testimony,” he wrote.
And Senate Ethics Committee Chair Sam Watson urged Raffensperger to reconsider his decision not to testify over the Trump administration’s demands for the state’s voter data.
“We understand that you cannot comment on pending litigation and assure that you will not be required to do so,” he wrote. “But pending litigation is not an excuse for your absence from our duty to conduct responsible, legislative oversight over the rules and regulations of Georgia’s elections.”
Georgia 14th
And then there were 21.
Republican Christian Hurd dropped out of the special election campaign for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat on Sunday, saying he’ll instead compete for a Georgia House seat. He endorsed former Lookout Mountain District Attorney Clay Fuller to replace Greene.
That means there are only, ahem, 16 Republicans competing in the northwest Georgia district in the March 10 special election — and 21 candidates overall.
The Georgia Republican Party canceled a 14th District voter forum planned for Saturday because of the weather. The plan was to let all of the Republican candidates speak and then hold a straw poll to help whittle down the candidates invited to a forum on Feb. 12. That event is still in the works.
Under the Gold Dome
It’s day 10 of the legislative session. Some happenings:
- 8 a.m.: House Banks and Banking Committee meets to discuss House Bill 934, which would transfer the regulation of securities and commodities from the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to the Department of Banking and Finance. It’s a move Raffensperger fears could hinder the First Liberty investigation.
- 10 a.m.: House and Senate convene.
- 1 p.m.: House Education Subcommittee on Policy and Innovation meets to discuss House Bill 383, the Georgia High School NIL Protection Act.
- 2 p.m.: House Education Curriculum and Academic Achievement Subcommittee meets to discuss House Bill 1009, which would ban cellphones from high schools during school hours.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we answer questions from listeners about Georgia’s emerging governor’s race and more.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free an Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
Partial shutdown underway
The U.S. Senate on Friday voted to keep the government funded in a deal that buys time for Democrats and Republicans to negotiate new civil liberty protections aimed at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The vote split Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, with Jon Ossoff voting for it while Raphael Warnock was among a bipartisan group of 21 senators opposing it. Warnock said the package didn’t go far enough to rein in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The plan must still pass the House, whose members aren’t expected to vote on it until later this week. That means we are in a partial government shutdown affecting some of the most visible federal services including education, defense, health and human services, and transportation, among others.
As long as the House approves the funding in the next few days, the impact of this shutdown is expected to be minimal as agencies stretch existing funding.
But first House Republicans need to ensure they can provide the votes to advance the legislation despite their slim majority. The Rules Committee could take a key vote this evening, setting up a procedural vote on the floor for Tuesday.
Today in Washington
Happenings:
- President Donald Trump will sign legislation into law.
- The House returns for evening votes and the Rules Committee will begin debating the government funding package.
- The Senate will vote on another Trump nomination.
Shoutouts
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Before you go
Protesters on in-line skates, roller skates and skateboards gathered along the Atlanta Beltline over the weekend in bitterly cold conditions to condemn the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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