Trump codefendant won't be suspended from Georgia senate despite charges: report

A three-member panel decided against suspending Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, who has been charged in the Fulton County election racketeering case for falsely signing a document declaring himself an elector, reportedThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.

"Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said the decision by the review panel — which included Attorney General Carr, House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration and Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch — ends the inquiry into whether Still can serve in the Georgia Senate. The three panelists, along with Still, are all Republicans," reported Greg Bluestein. "Still is one of 19 defendants — including Trump — in the indictment brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that alleges the former president led an illegal scheme to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia."

"Under Georgia law, the governor is required to suspend a state legislator facing criminal charges if a commission determined the indictment is linked to or adversely affects the administration of his office, and if the public is adversely affected," said the report. "Still’s indictment has added to a fraught environment in the state Senate, where normally congenial GOP colleagues have been engaged in a bitter back-and-forth over efforts to punish Willis for bringing the charges and take other steps to undermine her investigation."

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According to Georgia State law professor Anthony Michael Kreis, the decision was broadly expected, in large part because Still was not in office at the time of the alleged offense, meaning it was not part of an abuse of office.

Still, who maintains he did not violate any law, is one of several charged as part of the false elector scheme specifically, including former Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer, who recently lost a bid to get the Fulton County special counsel removed from the case.

Georgia is not the only state where fake Trump electors are facing charges; the fake electors in Michigan were recently charged by that state's attorney general, and an elector investigation also appears to be in the early stages in Arizona.