The New Georgia Project, a voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, has been fined $300,000 by the Georgia Ethics Commission for illegally spending millions to bolster Abrams' 2018 gubernatorial campaign. This represents the largest campaign finance violation fine in Georgia history.
A voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams has been penalized with the largest campaign finance violation fine in Georgia history. The New Georgia Project, once a prominent organizing force, will pay the state $300,000 to settle a complaint filed with the Georgia Ethics Commission. The group admitted to illegally spending millions to support Abrams' 2018 gubernatorial campaign. According to a consent form made public on Wednesday, the New Georgia Project failed to disclose roughly $4.
2 million in contributions to Abrams' campaign and spent $3.2 million to support her and the Democratic ticket. It also admitted to spending over $600,000 on a local ballot initiative election in 2019.The organization admitted to a total of 16 violations of state campaign finance laws, including failing to register as a political committee. The New Georgia Project had previously denied wrongdoing, characterising the investigation as a politically motivated 'fishing expedition.' They also fought to keep their bank records private until 2022, when a judge ruled for their disclosure. Prior to Wednesday's fine, Georgia's highest campaign violation fine was $80,000, paid by the Georgia Association of Realtors political action committee in 2008 for failing to disclose contributions.David Emadi, the ethics commission's executive secretary, stated: 'While this fine is significant in scale, it is also appropriate given the scope of which state law was violated in this case. This represents the largest and most significant instance of an organization illegally influencing our statewide elections in Georgia that we have ever discovered, and I believe this sends a clear message to both the public and potential bad actors moving forward that we will hold you accountable.' Aria Branch, counsel to the New Georgia Project, responded: 'We are glad to finally put this matter behind us so the New Georgia Project can fully devote its time and attention to its efforts to civically engage and register black, brown, and young voters in Georgia. While we remain disappointed that the federal court ruling on the constitutionality of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act was overturned on entirely procedural grounds, we accept this outcome and are eager to turn the page on activities that took place more than five years ago.' Burt Jones, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, commented: 'Stacey Abrams will go down as one of the biggest frauds in the history of Georgia politics.' Per the consent agreement, the New Georgia Project must pay $150,000 within 30 days and the other half within a year
CAMPAIGN FINANCE GEORGIA STACEY ABRAMS VOTING RIGHTS NEW GEORGIA PROJECT ELECTIONS ETHICS VIOLATIONS
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