Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis dropped by the Senate Judiciary Committee late Thursday as the panel debated a bill that would create an oversight commission with the authority to discipline, remove or force local elected prosecutors to retire.
Willis said the timing of the measure, Senate Bill 92, was curious.
“In 2020, we went from having five district attorneys that were minorities to 14 that were minorities, which is historic for any state in the United States,” Willis told the Senate panel. “Let’s be even more clear than that. Those district attorneys now represent the majority of the constituents in the state of Georgia.”
The statement echoed comments she made earlier to the Fulton County legislative delegation, our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu reports.
“I’m tired and I’m just going to call it how I see it,” she said. “I, quite frankly, think the legislation is racist. I don’t know what other thing to call it.”
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
In the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert of Athens took issue with Willis, saying the bill is being pushed in response to recent victories by prosecutors of color.
“For you to come in here and try to make this about racism, that this bill is directed at any district attorney or solicitor because of racism is absurd and it’s offensive, and it’s a racist statement on its own,” he said.
The bill passed 5-3 on a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting the measure and Democrats opposed.
Willis has had a mostly positive relationship with Republican senators up to this point, including partnering with GOP lawmakers to draft bills to target gang activity.
The bill she spoke about Thursday is seen as largely directed at Athens DA Deborah Gonzales, the progressive prosecutor who shares territory with state Rep. Houston Gaines. The Athens Republican is the House sponsor of the legislation who defeated Gonzales to win his House seat in 2018.
Democrats have argued that elections to select DAs every four years is all the oversight they need.
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LISTEN UP. It’s been another wild week in Georgia politics and it’s all waiting for you in the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Special guest Tamar Hallerman shares details of her interview with the forewoman of the Fulton County grand jury, and Riley Bunch joins to pod with an update on Atlanta’s bid for the DNC.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher
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GRAND JUROR FUROR. Did the forewoman of the Fulton County special grand jury put the entire investigation at risk with her chattiness with reporters?
The legal battle lines are already being drawn following Emily Kohrs’ interviews this week with the AJC and other outlets.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Donald Trump attorney Drew Findling said Kohrs’ remarks paint a picture of an unprofessional investigation marred by an overly chummy relationship between jurors and prosecutors.
“This type of carnival, clown-like atmosphere that was portrayed over the course of the last 36 hours takes away from the complete sanctity and the integrity and, for that matter, the reliability” of the investigation, Findling told our AJC colleagues.
Other attorneys said any public relations damage from her remarks will be long forgotten before any trials occur. That’s the take from Norm Eisen and Fred Wertheimer, who wrote in CNN that Georgia law gives grand jurors significant leeway.
“It certainly would have been better for decorum if Kohrs had refrained from speaking to the media, and she may even trigger motions challenging potential indictments,” wrote the pair of veteran attorneys. “But that won’t change anything legally.”
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
GASSING UP. On the same note, state Sen. Brandon Beach introduced a measure this week that would punish anyone who makes an “unauthorized disclosure of grand jury proceedings.”
The Alpharetta Republican was a key organizer of the Republican efforts to appoint a slate of fake GOP electors on the day Georgia cast its 16 electoral voted for Joe Biden. Beach is also unlikely to get any significant measure adopted this year.
Why? Because he opposed Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection bid, backing David Perdue’s GOP primary challenge instead. He also was a chief promoter of Donald Trump’s lies about election fraud.
As one Kemp ally said, “Brandon Beach can’t pass gas this session.”
Another Kemp confidante took it a step further: “He couldn’t pass a kidney stone this session.”
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- The House and Senate are out of session, with work resuming Monday.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
CARTER CENTER CASH. Even before the news about former President Jimmy Carter’s declining health emerged, managers were already thinking about the next chapter for his presidential library and museum in Atlanta.
The facilities are functional but aging. Exhibits were last refreshed in 2009, while some spaces, like the theaters where visitors watch an introductory video, haven’t been touched since the building opened to the public in 1986.
Help is coming in the form of more than $7 million in federal funding to modernize and renovate the museum. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff was successful in earmarking the funding during last year’s budget process.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
MCCORMICK ON THE ROAD. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick spent a portion of the two-week congressional recess traveling in Europe.
The Suwanee Republican recently returned from a trip to attend the high-profile Munich Security Conference in Germany followed by a visit to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, Belgium. Although the U.S. Senate announced in advance the bipartisan group of lawmakers attending the Munich conference, House members have been more tight-lipped ahead of their travels.
But in a Twitter post about his meetings, which largely centered on the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, McCormick praised former President Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach.
“(European nations) finally understand the need to fulfill the pledge for 2% GDP spending as President Trump called for years ago,” the Suwanee Republican wrote. “He was ahead of his time. We preserve peace by preparing for war.”
Just returned from the Munich Security Conference and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels. They finally understand the need to fulfill the pledge for 2% GDP spending as President Trump called for years ago. He was ahead of his time. We preserve peace by preparing for war.
— Rich McCormick (@RepMcCormick) February 23, 2023
McCormick is a former Marine officer who now sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Relations Committee, the two House panels with primary oversight of U.S. policy overseas, including in Ukraine.
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Credit: Kent D. Johnson/AJC
Credit: Kent D. Johnson/AJC
MORE EARMARKS. It looks like the process of allowing members to request funding for specific projects will continue under the new Republican majority in the U.S. House. Democrats brought earmarking back in 2021 after a decade-long hiatus initiated by Republicans, and there were questions about whether a conservative majority would implement another moratorium.
We’ve seen emails from Democratic members of Georgia’s delegation, including U.S. Rep. David Scott and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, announcing that applications are now available for organizations looking for funding.
Many of the guidelines implemented by Democrats are still in place, like the rules prohibiting members from having any financial interest in the earmarks they champion and limiting funding only to public and nonprofit groups.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will meet virtually with G7 nations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to mark the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leaders are expected to announce new sanctions against President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
- The U.S. House and Senate are off all week.
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Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC/TNS)
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC/TNS)
HONORING JOHN LEWIS. In celebration of what would have been Congressman John Lewis’ 83rd birthday, his successor has re-introduced legislation to create a new national fellowship in his honor.
A proposal from U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., has bipartisan support. The John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship would be created within the Fulbright Scholarship Program and support the study of nonviolent civil rights movements around the world.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, has partnered with Williams to lead the House version of the bill. Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jon Ossoff and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for The Atlanta-Journal-Constitution
Credit: Nathan Posner for The Atlanta-Journal-Constitution
LITTLE LEADER. A viral TikTok of a six-year-old from Georgia arguing for a four-day school week has caught the eye of a member of Congress.
“I’m Brodie and this is for the government and I’m protesting,” the kindergartner said in a video, which has had nearly 2 million views. “I want three days off from school because I’ve been tired of school lately, and I’ve been dreaming for three days off.”
Brodie’s plea was featured on “Good Morning America” and national news sites, but his mom said he initially didn’t hear anything back from “the government” after she posted the video.
That changed when U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter set up a Zoom call with Brodie and promised to take his concerns to the top.
“I’m with Speaker Kevin McCarthy this weekend,” the Pooler Republican told him. “And I’m going to mention to him your idea about an extra day off on the weekend, and he’s a pretty powerful guy.”
Carter also invited Brodie, who lives in Moultrie, and his mom to Washington for a visit to the Capitol.
Brodie told Carter that he is thinking about being president when he grows up. By the overwhelmingly positive reception to his first platform initiative, we think he is off to a great start.
I met a celebrity this weekend!
— Buddy Carter (@RepBuddyCarter) February 21, 2023
Brodie, a kindergartener from Georgia, went viral for his petition for a three day weekend, a preview to his Presidential run in 2056🗳️
I gave him a call to encourage him to keep fighting for what he thinks is right. pic.twitter.com/BDAF2aPODc
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DOG OF THE DAY. We have been delightfully deluged with Jolt Dog of the Day nominees, which means cats have to work harder than they may be used to in order to make the cut.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
So meet Martin the Cat of Ansley Park, who is doing just that.
Martin is both an AJC subscriber and legal buff. Here he is, in the words of his person Hope Dlugozima, “waiting for the Fani Willis drop.”
We hear you, Martin, we hear you.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion (and cats on a cat-by-case basis) to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
