On the same day former President Donald Trump was arraigned on federal election conspiracy charges in Washington, D.C., the prosecutor leading the push for the fourth potential criminal case against Trump said she’s primed to go, too.
“We’re ready,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters in Atlanta.
Officials expect her to announce that decision within two weeks.
The federal indictment unveiled this week included five pages detailing Trump’s attempt to overturn the Georgia election in 2020. The Georgia focus indicates there could be significant overlap between the federal probe and any case Willis might bring.
The DA told the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman that she has reviewed the federal indictment but that it won’t affect anything she’s planning to do.
“Obviously, we’re concentrating on Georgia and things that impacted Georgia,” Willis said.
She also defended using limited local resources to pursue a now thrice-indicted criminal defendant.
“I would say that I took an oath and that oath requires that I follow the law,” Willis said. “And if someone broke the law in Fulton County, Georgia, that I have a duty to prosecute. That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Tensions have risen around the Fulton County Courthouse this week as Willis has neared an announcement. Security around the courthouse has visibly increased, too.
Willis warned county officials last weekend to take precautions to keep themselves and their staffers safe. She told reporters the threats and racially charged messages are pouring into her office.
“I’ve been called everything pretty much but a child of God,” she said.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
LISTEN UP. We’re never far from an election in Georgia, so in the Friday edition of the podcast, we’re looking 2024, 2026, and whose names are already in the mix as the ones to watch.
Plus, the latest on the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump and how it could affect the moves of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
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FEELING SORROWFUL, NOT VINDICATED. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he feels no sense of vindication from this week’s federal indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Speaking to the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Raffensperger told the business leaders he felt “sorrow” for the nation. Gwinnett Daily Post reporter Curt Yeomans attended the meeting and chronicled Raffensperger’s comments.
“We’re losing time and wasting time,” Raffensperger said. “We have big issues that we need to be dealing with and we should be really building that unified Team America where we all work together.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Trump’s attempts to interfere with Georgia’s election results, including his telephone plea to Raffensperger asking the secretary to “find” him enough votes for a victory in the state, are cited in the federal indictment unveiled Tuesday.
“When I had the conversation with him, I didn’t know what he knew or didn’t know, so my job, I felt, was to give him the facts,” Raffensperger said. “I’m an engineer and, you know, facts are the darnedest things. You may not like them but the facts are the facts.”
Raffensperger is making a series of public appearances around the state this month. He’s scheduled to speak to a Rotary Club in Savannah on Monday.
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Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
FOREVER TRUMP. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told Fox Business on Thursday that her support for former President Donald Trump will not waiver. She will champion him even if Trump is convicted of criminal conspiracy charges related to the 2020 election.
The Rome Republican joined host Larry Kudlow to follow up on her tweets comparing Trump saying the election was stolen to comments by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams — both Democrats — after their failed elections. The difference is that neither woman tried to subvert the will of voters by invalidating the election.
But for Greene and many other Republicans, prosecution of Trump for his election result denials is proof that Trump is being treated unfairly. Greene told Kudlow she will not abandon Trump despite the various legal issues he faces.
“I’ll vote for President Trump even if he’s in prison, because he’s an innocent man and he’s the only man that can save this country from the communist regime that we find ourselves under,” she said.
.@RepMTG: “I'll tell you right now, I'll vote for President Trump even if he's in prison ... he's the only man that can save this country from the communist regime we find ourselves under.” #GaPol #TrumpArraignment pic.twitter.com/rmCdssBddl
— The Atlanta Voice (@theatlantavoice) August 3, 2023
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MILTON DRAMA. Don’t let the manicured lawns and million-dollar farmhouses fool you: There’s plenty in Milton that isn’t picture perfect.
Let’s start with an ethics scandal and allegations of election mismanagement and voter suppression by some members of the Milton City Council.
Credit: Courtesy City of Milton
Credit: Courtesy City of Milton
Now add a new political action committee called Milton Families First, which advocates “for government transparency and accountability, strengthening public safety, and promoting responsible growth.” With a municipal election looming, the PAC is also designed to unseat the members of the council at the center of those dramas: Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig.
The PAC is funded in part by Tony Palazzo, the Milton businessman who filed an ethics complaint against Moore. That charge led Moore to sue Palazzo for filing the ethics complaint in the first place.
PACs are commonplace in statewide and congressional races, but they’re unusual at the city council level. So continue to watch this space. We have a feeling this isn’t over.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
NUCLEAR AWAKENING? Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols predicts Plant Vogtle “has set the stage for a wave of new construction” of nuclear reactors in the United States despite a 7-year delay and more than $17 billion in cost overruns for the nation’s first commercial reactor built from scratch in decades.
It makes sense — because this project served as a training ground for thousands of nuclear workers and supply-chain companies, utility regulators like me, and even for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which proved an untested regulatory process.
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Credit: Desiree Rios/The New York Times
Credit: Desiree Rios/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Biden ends his vacation at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and will spend the weekend elsewhere in the state at his home in Wilmington.
- The House and Senate recess continues through the month of August.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
LET THEM VOTE. U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, and Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, are among a group of Democrats who say they have an idea for how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can fill the legislative calendar if budget talks stall.
Upon their return from the August recess, House members face a Sept. 30 deadline to pass 12 appropriations bills and avoid a federal government shutdown. Yet many conservatives favor steeper spending cuts than Democrats and even their Republican colleagues.
Should this disagreement lead to gridlock, Johnson, Williams and 14 other Democratic congressmen want McCarthy, a Republican from California, to allow votes on gun control measures rather than send members home early, as happened prior to the current recess.
In a letter to McCarthy on Thursday, the group cited gun violence as the leading cause of death of children in America. With Republicans in the majority, gun control bills have not been brought up for consideration.
“As members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we call on you to schedule votes on gun violence prevention legislation as soon as possible this year,” the group wrote. “We also have a new standing request that should the vote schedule fall apart again, you would fill that time to vote on life saving gun violence prevention legislation, instead of canceling votes altogether.”
Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in the US, yet my friends on the other side of the aisle haven't brought 1 gun violence prevention bill to the floor. We must protect our children! I urge @SpeakerMcCarthy to schedule votes on gun violence prevention ASAP. pic.twitter.com/ME1osOKxQX
— Rep. Hank Johnson (@RepHankJohnson) August 3, 2023
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
LEAVING EARLY. Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring, whose contract was not going to be renewed next year, is leaving her post much earlier. The Atlanta Board of Education will vote Monday to finalize an agreement that allows Herring to transition into a consultant role beginning Aug. 31, the AJC’s Martha Dalton reports.
The school board will also vote Monday to name former Associate Superintendent and Principal Danielle Battle the interim superintendent while a national search is conducted for a permanent leader.
Herring assumed oversight of Atlanta’s public schools in June 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic forced buildings to close. The school board announced in June it would not extend Herring’s contract past its June 30, 2024 end date.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. In Georgia there are yellow dog Democrats and now, Blue, the true blue Democrat who calls former Fayette County Democratic Chair Leonard Presberg her person.
The Scotch collie was born, adopted and named during Stacey Abrams’ second campaign for Georgia governor in 2022. And even though the state didn’t go blue in that election, Presberg can at least say he got Blue during that campaign. That’s more winning than most Democrats enjoyed last year. And now Blue can claim the Dog of the Day. Congrats!
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion 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 patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
