ATLANTA — On Wednesday, the Georgia Ethics Commission reached a unanimous decision to impose fines on two advocacy organizations established by Democrat Stacey Abrams, as well as one led by Raphael Warnock prior to his election to the U.S. Senate.
According to findings by the commission, the New Georgia Project and its related entity, the New Georgia Project Action Fund, engaged in electoral activities on behalf of Abrams and other candidates while failing to disclose their campaign spending and contributions appropriately.
The current leadership of these organizations acknowledged 16 instances of illegal conduct in a consent decree and will incur a significant penalty of $300,000—the largest ever issued by the commission, as stated by its director, David Emadi.
The commission highlighted that these groups had raised a total of $4.2 million and expended $3.2 million to support Abrams and other candidates during the 2018 election cycle.
David Fox, representing the New Georgia Project and its affiliated Fund, mentioned that his clients recognize and respect the commission’s interpretations regarding the facts and the applicable laws.
Fox further explained via video to the commissioners that this case pertains to incidents that took place over five years ago, adding that the respondents are eager to resolve the issue.
The ethics officials determined that the groups failed to register as independent campaign committees before collecting funds for political campaigning and neglected to submit finance reports detailing their contributions and expenditures prior to Abrams losing her gubernatorial campaign to Republican Brian Kemp that same year.
Furthermore, the organizations repeated similar infractions in 2019 when they sought to extend public transportation in suburban Gwinnett County, failing to report $646,000 in contributions and $174,000 in expenditures regarding a voter referendum intended to join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, which ultimately did not pass.
Founded by Abrams in 2013, the New Georgia Project aims to increase voter registration among nonwhite and young demographics in Georgia and encourages them to participate in elections. This project operates as a charity, allowing for tax-deductible contributions, while the New Georgia Project Action Fund functions as a non-profit social welfare group and can publicly support candidates, albeit without tax-deductible donations. Both organizations generally do not need to disclose their donors. Emadi also indicated that the groups are likely to begin filing campaign finance reports for the relevant period.
Abrams stepped down from her role in the organizations in 2017, claiming she had no further involvement. Warnock, a close associate of Abrams and a Baptist minister, was identified as the CEO of the New Georgia Project in corporate records for the years 2017 through 2019.
Emadi noted that he could not conclusively state Warnock’s direct involvement in these infractions, stating that he did not uncover evidence to support that claim.
A spokesperson for Warnock’s Senate office, Michael Brewer, affirmed that Warnock has consistently championed voting rights, claiming he had no knowledge of the violations. According to Brewer, “Compliance decisions were not a part of that work.”
The initial complaint was filed in 2019 and faced numerous legal battles, including attempts to access emails to demonstrate that the organizations improperly coordinated with Abrams’ 2018 campaign. Although the consent decree issued on Wednesday found no such violations, Emadi mentioned that a separate complaint regarding alleged illegal coordination remains under investigation.
Legal representatives for the New Georgia Project previously contended that the organizations were adhering to norms observed by other non-profits, accusing Republicans like Emadi, a donor to Kemp, of using their dominant position on the commission to launch a partisan crusade aimed at undermining Abrams’ political standing.
In the 2022 gubernatorial election, Abrams lost to Kemp by an even larger margin than in 2018, although this ethics case garnered minimal attention.
In another case, the commission penalized a group named Gente4Abrams with a $50,000 fine in 2020 for failing to register and report on $240,000 spent to support Abrams during the 2018 Democratic primary. The group registered only after the ruling, reporting an additional $685,000 spent on Abrams’ behalf in the 2018 general election.
Ethics Commissioner Rick Thompson commended the commission’s staff and expressed a desire for state law to permit criminal penalties in such matters, stating, “I think actions like this should be criminal because of the significant impact secret money can have on elections.” He added that organizations attempting to conceal their election spending are acting dishonorably and undermining the integrity of elections and the public.
