Trump-loving Georgia election official suggested himself for federal appointment

One of the election conspiracists who oversees voting in Georgia floated himself for a possible federal position if Donald Trump is re-elected.

The former president hailed Georgia state election board members Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Janice Johnston from the stage of his rally this month in Atlanta, praising them for voting in favor of rules that could sow chaos and invite election challenges in a state where Trump and his allies have already been indicted for trying to overturn his 2020 loss, reported The Guardian.

“They’re on fire, they’re doing a great job,” Trump said, calling them out by name. “Three pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

Trump did not name Republican board chair John Fervier, who voted with Sara Tindall Ghazal, the board's only Democrat, against new rules that give local election officials more power to refuse to certify election results, that allow constant video surveillance of ballot drop boxes, and implement complicated procedures for voters to fill out absentee ballots.

“The state election board has become a MAGA government body, with three new members likely chosen not because they have elections experience, but because they’re seen as loyalists who will defer to Trump’s 2020 election fraud lies,” said Max Flugrath, communications director for the left-leaning Fair Fight Action.

Johnston attended the Trump rally and waved to the crowd when she was called out, but King did not attend, although she asserted her right to do so, and Jeffares also did not attend but bristled at being called an election denier despite sharing 2020 election conspiracies on social media.

“It makes me mad that we’ve been labeled," Jeffares said. “I didn’t even watch it, but when I heard he mentioned our name, you know my first thought was? Damn, we’re in trouble now.”

Jeffares stated that he believes the former president legitimately lost the election four years ago, but he repeatedly told The Guardian that election fraud was possibly taking place in the state, especially in Fulton County, and he acknowledged proposing himself for a position with the Environmental Protection Agency in a second Trump administration.

“I said if y’all can’t figure out who you want to be the EPA director for the south-east, I’d like to have it,” Jeffares said. “That’s all I said.”

Jeffares, who runs a company that handles sewage and wastewater projects, told the publication he made the proposal to former Trump campaign adviser Brian Jack, who is seeking a U.S. House seat in November.

"Something is rotten in Georgia," said former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance, in reaction to Jeffares' proposal.

The unelected board heard 16 hours of complaints from Trump supporters over the course of Aug. 6 and 7 complaining that the election had been stolen from the former president, and the board voted 3-2 to approve rules that experts say would invite lawsuits and give local officials discretion to delay vote certification.

“The narratives exist already and are deeply embedded in the minds of some of the board members and certainly much of the audience and petitioners," said Tindall Ghazal, "and everything that is done in the meetings is done to perpetuate those narratives.”