The Georgia Senate has initiated a probe into campaign finance violations related to Stacey Abrams’ voter outreach group the New Georgia Project and its Action Fund.
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations announced Monday that it had subpoenaed Abrams, as well as New Georgia Project leaders Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot. They are expected to appear at the State Capitol at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Fox News reported.
“This committee has a responsibility to follow the facts wherever they lead,” said GOP state Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is vice-chairman of the committee. “Georgia law requires transparency and accountability in our elections.”
The committee issued the subpoenas after the Georgia State Ethics Commission found that the New Georgia Project and its Action Fund violated campaign finance laws in 2018, according to the report. The organization admitted earlier this year to 16 violations and agreed to pay a fine of $300,000, which is reportedly the largest campaign finance penalty in state history.
New Georgia Project ultimately dissolved and closed its doors last year amid financial and legal problems.
Republicans said the point of the investigation is to discover who the decision-makers were behind the violations and how money was managed.
“The people of Georgia deserve to know who was involved, what decisions were made and how millions of dollars flowed through organizations that admitted to violating our campaign finance laws,” Dolezal said.
Georgia’s Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said in a statement that “[n]o one is above the law in Georgia.”
He added:
When organizations secretly spend millions to influence elections while evading disclosure requirements, it undermines confidence in our democratic process. The Senate will continue pursuing the truth and ensuring accountability, regardless of political party or influence.
Lawmakers said they expect more hearings and witness testimonies in the following weeks.
Abrams acknowledged the subpoenas in a post, calling the effort a “partisan, performative hearing designed to intimidate and disarm voting rights advocates across Georgia and the nation.”
“Despite the hollow, cynical intent, I will indeed do so on a mutually agreeable date,” the two-time Democrat gubernatorial nominee continued.
“It is not lost on me that I am being summoned days after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted protections for minority voting power and after I testified against the unconscionable voter suppression process unfolding across several Southern states,” she added.
Abrams, a former Democrat Georgia lawmaker who lost to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018 and 2022, has ruled out another campaign for governor in favor of working in activism.
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