A Georgia state Senate committee pursuing a thus-far fruitless investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to add Stacey Abrams to its list of targets
Georgia committee that has pursued Fani Willis now wants to investigate Stacey AbramsBy JEFF AMYAssociated PressThe Associated PressATLANTA
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state Senate committee pursuing a thus-far fruitless investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to add Stacey Abrams to its list of targets.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other Republicans say they want to further examine recent ethics findings that voter participation group New Georgia Project improperly coordinated with Abrams’ 2018 campaign for governor. They also want to probe claims by new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin that $2 billion was improperly given to a coalition of groups trying to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Abrams worked with one of the groups until the end of last year.
“Don’t you think that, that deserves looking into, because I do,” Jones told reporters Friday, after a resolution to allow the expansion was introduced in the Senate.
Abrams said in a statement that Republicans are targeting her because they don’t like her.
“Georgia Republicans are so terrified of the power of the people, they’re lashing out with unfounded attacks and baseless investigations that waste taxpayer dollars,” Abrams said. “Working across the state, I registered and turned out thousands of Georgians. I proudly led work to lower energy prices in the poorest region of the state.”
Abrams, the former state House minority leader, vaulted to national Democratic stardom when she came close to defeating Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018. She parlayed voting rights after that election into a national platform and even consideration as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, but lost a 2022 governor’s race rematch to Kemp by a broader margin. Her involvement with Rewiring America, a group promoting clean energy and electrification, is just one of Abrams’ roles, which include writing books and pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.
If the resolution is approved, it will allow the Republican-led Senate to conduct meetings scrutinizing a second high-profile Democrat as Jones and several members of the committee consider running for office in 2026.
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, armed with subpoena power, has been moving toward dragging in Willis to force her to testify about whether she did anything wrong in her investigation and prosecution of President Donald Trump and others. However, its efforts thus far have disclosed little that wasn’t already known about Willis and her hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship, to lead the prosecution against Trump and others.
Sen. Bill Cowsert, the Athens Republican who chairs the committee, said he anticipates also subpoenaing Abrams, with work beginning after the legislature adjourns on April 4.
“Once again, we’re going to be wasting time, wasting Georgia taxpayers’ money,” said Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harold Jones II of Augusta.
Abrams has not publicly ruled out a third bid for governor in 2026. However, her party may be moving on from her — other Democrats are already laying the groundwork to run next year.
Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to register more nonwhite and young voters in Georgia and to urge them to turn out. She stepped down in 2017 and said she had no role with the group thereafter.
In January, the New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund admitted that they broke Georgia’s campaign finance law by failing to register as an independent campaign committee and failing to disclose contributions and spending. The Ethics Commission fined the groups $300,000, the largest ethics fine in state history, mostly for violations that supported Abrams’ 2018 run for governor.
The group has been in turmoil in recent weeks, laying off workers, some of whom said they were fired because they were trying to form a union. Francys Johnson, a lawyer and civil rights activist who chairs the group, says he intends to resign.
On Feb. 12, the Trump-appointed Zeldin called for the return of $2 billion granted to Power Forward Communities in April 2024, part of $20 billion that Zeldin claimed was improperly granted by former President Joe Biden’s administration. Power Forward Communities, which includes United Way Worldwide and Habitat for Humanity, says it plans to use the money to help fund energy efficiency upgrades in low-income households, trying to bring down costs by paying appliance makers and contractors many upgrades at once.
Abrams was senior counsel to Rewiring America until December, said her spokesperson, Joshua Karp. That’s one of the groups that make up the Power Forward Communities coalition.
Abrams was not paid by Power Forward Communities, Karp said.
Zeldin has posted on social media calling it “Stacey Abrams’ Power Forward Communities.” He has been trying to get Citibank to give back money in bank accounts associated with the grants.
