Bulwark columnist Amanda Carpenter wrote Thursday that there might a problem with Gov. Brian Kemp's candidacy in the November reelection campaign: his lieutenant governor could be too busy in court.
It appears Kemp's running-mate, Burt Jones, was a fake elector, which has fallen under a federal investigation from the Justice Department. Jones and other Republicans signed their names to a fraudulent document claiming to be lawfully elected electors and the signatures were sent to Washington.
Georgia along with Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin are states where fake electors have been subpoenaed and search warrants have been issued for electronic devices. At home, Jones is also a target of the Fulton County district attorney’s criminal investigation.
Carpenter sounded the alarm that as the "president of the Senate," Jones would have a high position for someone involved in a fraud probe.
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"A Jones victory would represent an evolution in Georgia’s Republican leadership," Carpenter wrote. "The current lieutenant governor, Republican Geoff Duncan, spoke out aggressively against Trump’s election lies in 2020 and stripped Jones of his committee chairmanship due to Jones’s outlandish efforts to overturn the election results. But Duncan decided not to seek a second term."
Meanwhile, Kemp has tried to play both sides in the 2022 reelect, where he stood up to Trump and has become a foe who barely made it through a GOP primary against a Trump-picked candidate. Now, he's trying to court those voters to help him over the line with allies like Jones.
Carpenter also noted that Kemp has struggled with questions over whether the election was "free and fair." In a debate with former Sen. David Perdue, Kemp claimed he too was frustrated by the 2020 election results and that he fought back against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It seems he's trying to have it both ways that it was both free and fair and also corrupt.