All posts tagged "georgia"

GOP board defies chair in demand that Trump DOJ declare state's voting machines illegal

Georgia's Republican-controlled State Election Board is asking the Justice Department to declare the state's voting machines illegal ahead of the midterms.

In a letter sent Thursday, board Executive Director James Mills asked Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the DOJ Civil Rights Division, to "prohibit" the state's QR code-based vote counting. Mills also urged federal officials to "set a binding six-month deadline" for Georgia to switch to a different voting system.

The letter takes aim at the ballot-marking devices Georgia voters use to make their picks, which turn those selections into QR codes that scanners later read. Mills argued that "unreadable, unverifiable QR code-based vote tabulation" runs afoul of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) because voters can't check the vote that actually gets counted.

Mills went further, pressing the Justice Department to force a statewide software update before November and to investigate the secretary of state's office over allegations that it withheld or altered election records. He also claimed the system "can be compromised in seconds with an ordinary ballpoint pen, as demonstrated in federal court."

The letter follows a resolution three board members approved earlier this week directing Mills to seek help from the Trump administration. Member Carolyn Roddy, the Republican Party's appointee, introduced the measure, and Vice Chair Janelle King and member Salleigh Grubbs joined her in passing it, Democracy Docket reported.

Grubbs backed the resolution despite calling herself "a strict constitutionalist" who opposes federal involvement in state election matters, according to Democracy Docket.

Board Chairman John Fervier, Gov. Brian Kemp's appointee, opposed it.

"I have a fundamental issue with the federal government becoming involved in Georgia elections," Fervier said. "I just fundamentally disagree with it."

The Constitution leaves election administration to state and local officials, and the Justice Department has no legal power to declare voting machines unlawful or seize them on its own, Democracy Docket noted.

Mills copied Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on the letter. Mullin has separately asked the Justice Department to declare QR code machines unlawful under HAVA.

Judge shuts down Trump DOJ's gambit for private data it refused to keep secret

A federal judge threw out the Trump Justice Department's lawsuit demanding Georgia voters' Social Security and driver's license numbers.

U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia dismissed the case in an order filed on Wednesday. She granted Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's motion to dismiss and denied the DOJ's motion to compel him to hand over the records.

The fight began in July 2025, when the DOJ asked Raffensperger's office for Georgia's full, unredacted voter registration list. According to the order, federal officials said they wanted to run it through the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE database, which checks citizenship status. Follow-up letters in August demanded that every field be visible, including dates of birth and Social Security numbers.

In December, the DOJ sent a draft agreement requiring Georgia to transfer the data to a DOJ contractor. Raffensperger's office instead sent a version of the list with dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and driver's license numbers removed, citing a state law that keeps that information confidential. The DOJ sued under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, arguing the federal law overrides Georgia's privacy protections. Its lawsuit sought the voters' last four Social Security digits along with other identifying details.

Calvert disagreed.

"Based on the text of the CRA, including what was cited above, there is no explicit manifestation of Congress's intent to preempt states' voter privacy laws," she wrote. "Indeed, the CRA does not refer to state laws at all."

The judge also rejected the DOJ's claim that it could not police voter roll maintenance without voters' identifying numbers. She pointed to the list maintenance records Georgia had already provided.

"Defendant Raffensperger's efforts demonstrate that it is possible to comply with both Georgia's voter privacy law and federal laws related to voter records," Calvert wrote.

Georgia law does let some federal agencies receive confidential voter data if they keep it confidential and use it only to identify voters, the order noted. However, Calvert found that exception did not apply because the DOJ would not make that commitment. In a footnote, she wrote that the department "has not agreed that the information would remain confidential."

Another MAGA candidate begs supporters for gas money: 'Put some diesel in the tank!'

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins is asking supporters to help fund his campaign's fuel costs, even as he's repeatedly voted to keep the very war driving diesel prices to record highs going.

Collins, a Georgia congressman and former trucker running to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, features a fundraising pitch on his website leaning heavily on trucking imagery, The Daily Beast reported on Friday.

"PUT SOME DIESEL IN THE TANK!" the page reads.

Despite owning a trucking business himself, Collins' campaign offers no visible plan for actually lowering fuel costs. Fuel prices in Georgia have hit historic territory this year, with diesel climbing past $6 a gallon and coming within a few cents of an all-time state record set just last week, while regular gas has jumped to roughly $4.16 a gallon from under $3 a year earlier.

Collins has voted against six separate war powers resolutions aimed at ending U.S. involvement in Iran, including one just last week, even as fuel costs directly tied to the conflict continue climbing. Asked at a campaign stop Friday whether Republicans, who've held power for nearly two years, bear any responsibility for the high prices, Collins instead pinned the blame on his predecessor.

"The reality is we got here because of those Bidenomics, that debacle that during the Biden administration, which Jon Ossoff fully supported, was what caused these historical inflation on everything, not just gas, but everything," Collins said.

Inflation did spike under Biden coming out of the pandemic, but by the time he left office, both gas and diesel prices had fallen back to roughly half of what they cost by the end of Trump's current term. Collins made the comments standing alongside Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who traveled to Georgia to campaign with him.

Collins joins a growing club of Republican Senate candidates leaning on fuel-themed fundraising pitches this cycle. Maine Sen. Susan Collins recently asked supporters to chip in $5 to help "fuel the tour" during a statewide swing, while Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan sent a fundraising email earlier this year specifically asking for help to "pay for gas" while visiting remote parts of his state.

MAGA candidate pays out to cheated workers despite pro-jobs campaign: report

A billionaire running for Georgia governor with President Donald Trump's endorsement and a job-creating platform saw his companies pay millions to settle worker complaints.

According to a Monday report by The Daily Beast, Rick Jackson has built his campaign around his business track record, but court records show at least two of his healthcare firms agreed to class-action settlements. Workers accused his firms of failing to pay wages properly.

One subsidiary, Jackson Nurse Professionals, settled a 2017 class action in 2022 for close to $2 million to resolve claims from roughly 300 nursing staff who said the travel staffing company shorted them on overtime, bonuses, and wages owed when they left. A separate company, Avante Healthcare Professionals, agreed to a $3 million settlement covering more than 5,000 current and former international workers, according to The Daily Beast.

CNN first reported the second settlement last month and noted the foreign-born nurses accused the firm of exploiting immigrants it had recruited to the United States.

None of the settlements found that Jackson personally broke labor laws, The Daily Beast noted. However, the payouts sit awkwardly against a campaign that leans heavily on his reputation as a self-made healthcare titan, The Daily Beast added.

Jackson has vowed to "create more jobs than have ever been created in the history of Georgia," and pledged to bring business solutions to the state, according to The Daily Beast. He also described himself as a conservative outsider who built a $3 billion company without outside financing.

Trump has repeatedly boosted Jackson and credited his business acumen and MAGA views after Jackson won the GOP primary runoff in June, The Daily Beast reported.

Jackson faces a tight race against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor. An August InsiderAdvantage poll showed the two effectively deadlocked, with Jackson at 46.3 percent and Bottoms at 46.2 percent among likely voters, per The Daily Beast.

Jackson also faced scrutiny in June, when a recording captured him appearing to agree that women should have to prove they were raped to qualify for an abortion. His campaign said the comments were distorted, The Daily Beast noted.

'Exhausted' Trump voters' praise for his rival leaves former GOP pollster in disbelief

A focus group of President Donald Trump's voters spoke so warmly about his Democratic rival that a former GOP pollster couldn't believe it.

In a Saturday episode of The Focus Group Podcast, Sarah Longwell said she had to text her team midway through a focus group session to confirm the Georgians she was interviewing were actually voters who backed Trump in 2024. What threw her was how the voters in the focus group disapproved of Trump's job performance in his second administration and their descriptions of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

"I like Jon Ossoff. I have voted for him before. I appreciate him because he does fight for the little guy," one voter told Longwell. "He just really represents the marginalized community very well. He's always looking out for us."

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Trump's endorsed pick to unseat Ossoff, fared far worse.

"Collins is Trump's lap dog," one voter unloaded. "Daddy Trump said this, this is what I need to do. He's not leading. I jumped on the Trump train, and I'm shoving the coal."

Another said he knew almost nothing about Collins beyond attack ads. "Everything I see on TV is just really Ossoff or attacking Ossoff," the voter said. "I don't really see why Collins is promoting himself."

Cook Political Report's Amy Walter tied the mood to a broader problem for the GOP. She warned that "their base is exhausted" heading into the midterms and that the "enthusiasm gap is like a chasm right now."

Walter noted that three of the Trump voters independently framed Ossoff as someone who "helps the little guy." She called the profile striking among people who back the president.

Longwell said she could "feel" the fatigue in the room and described voters who sounded "kind of getting over this Trump stuff." She added that the exhaustion extended beyond policy as Trump voters retreat to culture-war fights because little else feels like a win.

"I'll talk about trans athletes all day long because that makes me feel like I'm still on the side of the angels," a voter told Longwell. "But generally speaking, I don't feel like there's a ton to defend."

Crowd erupts as Trump foe mocks his MAGA 'scandal piñata' opponent

Georgia Senate candidate and Trump foe Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) took a swipe at Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) that got laughs from a crowd on Tuesday.

Ossoff and Collins are vying to represent Georgia in the Senate. During a campaign event in Columbus, Georgia, joined by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — another President Donald Trump adversary — Ossoff launched a jab at the MAGA candidate endorsed by the president.

"This scandal piñata, Mike Collins," Ossoff said. "Every time you shake Congressman Collins, new misdeeds fall out. Have you seen it?"

The audience cracked up at the comment.

"Mike Collins is pro-war, he's pro-tariffs, he's pro-cutting your health care," Ossoff added. "He's a bigot and a Trump puppet."

Ossoff has been a sharp critic of Trump and just days ago suggested that the president had different priorities in a biting speech.

"While the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings," Ossoff said. "He golfs and trades stocks. So he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar."

Collins has faced his own share of controversies, including a House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations that he misused congressional funds and paid an intern who allegedly performed no work while dating his then-chief of staff. The Senate candidate's campaign has also been rocked by high staff turnover, an incident involving a former aide's participation in a group chat with white nationalists and renewed scrutiny over his history of racially charged social media posts.

Ossoff gets laughs for calling Mike Collins "the scandal pinata" and adds that he's "a bigot and Trump puppet" pic.twitter.com/kHbxuXYuIA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 18, 2026

MAGA candidate 'gonna get smashed' if Trump keeps showing up: report

A MAGA Senate candidate is in danger of sinking in the polls if President Donald Trump keeps showing up to support him, according to NOTUS.

NOTUS reported Friday that Republicans are worried that Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) will suffer from Trump coming out in support of him against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) ahead of the midterms. Sources told NOTUS that the problem is that Trump is tanking in the polls, and his endorsement could pull Collins down with him.

"We're already seeing Ossoff at every turn trying to tie Collins to Trump," an anonymous GOP operative, who has an active campaign role, told NOTUS.

The operative noted that Trump's approval rating sits below 40 percent.

"There's headwinds there," the operative said. "But Collins is going to wear the negative of it."

The operative added that the Trump administration's focus on Georgia for voter fraud is hurting Collins.

"Those issues are definitely net negatives for Republicans in the state," the operative said. "A general election electorate doesn't have much patience for that."

"Collins is gonna get smashed," GOP pollster Eamon Keegan told NOTUS. Keegan said that Trump's approval ratings and the ongoing war in Iran will continue to erode Collins' chances, according to NOTUS. Another operative told NOTUS they believe "one-hundred percent" that Trump will hinder Collins.

During an event in Marietta, Georgia, earlier this week, Trump praised Collins and tried to take a swipe at Ossoff.

"Maybe the most important man in this room right now is not here. His name is Mike Collins, and he's going to beat Pee-wee Herman," Trump said.

"If they could bring back Trump every week, we'd love it," David Brand, a Georgia Democratic operative supporting Ossoff, told NOTUS.

Trump 'mocked ruthlessly' by attendee at his own rally: journalist

A journalist flagged how President Donald Trump was "mocked ruthlessly" at his own rally in Georgia.

On Wednesday, Trump held a rally at a high school in Marietta, Georgia, in a "gymnasium named after a Confederate soldier," noted journalist Aaron Parnas in an episode of The Parnas Perspective. However, Parnas' focus was more on a tall man dressed in a black suit who mimicked Trump's movements during the speech.

The rally attendee could be seen behind Trump, holding his hands up, swinging them back and forth, and rocking his head side to side the way Trump does.

"That's the president right there being mocked incessantly by an attendee at his own rally who's not too happy," Parnas explained. "He's not too happy, the president, about having this guy right behind him on stage."

Parnas suggested that White House officials failed by letting the impersonator slip by and explained that someone messed up the task of "advance," which is checking the optics around the president.

"If you know anything about advance and working at the White House, a key part of advance is making sure that the stage looks prim and proper," Parnas said. "That the people you put behind the principal, in this case the president of the United States, that they don't make any faces, that they don't essentially embarrass the White House."

Parnas also noted that Trump "repeatedly struggled to get through his speech" as speculation swirls about his health. Parnas played a clip of Trump later in the speech where he was sweaty and running out of breath.

"The president of the United States had a pretty rough night," Parnas said.

'Staggering' DOJ demand hits major snag thanks to Trump's own appointee

A Trump-appointed judge dealt the Justice Department a major setback after finding the scope of its request "staggering" in a court order.

According to a court order filed on Tuesday, federal judge William M. Ray II quashed a DOJ grand jury subpoena that prosecutors had issued in April.

The subpoena sought a "staggering" amount of personal information about thousands of election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, who took part in the count and recount of the 2020 vote, Ray wrote. The rejection comes a week after the FBI sent hundreds of analysts to the Atlanta Field Office to review seized election materials.

"These records, even if they lead to the DOJ finding individuals who worked for Fulton County in the 2020 Election who support the theory that the 2020 Election was not fair, would not lead to information that could be used to charge anyone with anything," Ray wrote. "That is because the statute of limitations for any possible crime arising from the 2020 Election has long expired."

Ray described the DOJ as engaged in an "arbitrary fishing expedition" that would lead to "a dead-end prosecution," and decided "the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed." Although a grand jury issued the subpoena, "that does not give the DOJ the right to use the Grand Jury to do whatever the DOJ wants," the judge added.

"Everyone, whether you support the President or you do not, or whether you believe the 2020 Election was fair or believe that it was not, should be concerned about the DOJ's ability to utilize the power of the Grand Jury to appropriate your private information without a legitimate purpose," Ray, a Trump appointee, warned.

"Anyone in power (perhaps the next administration of a different party) could use the Grand Jury process similarly to subpoena personal information of citizens (perhaps that of their political opponents) with no legitimate law enforcement purpose."

'Chilling': Security expert sounds the alarm as Trump DOJ ramps up election probe

A security expert warned about the impact of Trump's latest move to send hundreds of FBI analysts to Georgia.

CNN law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller broke down Trump's decision to send 260 intelligence officials to Georgia to investigate the 2020 election results. Miller said the move is "very concerning," especially as Trump pushes the Save America Act, a voter-proof-of-citizenship law.

"There is a through line when you combine the idea that he is pushing the SAVE Act and then, on a holiday weekend, calls in hundreds of FBI analysts," Miller said. "When law enforcement comes in and starts doing things like this...it creates this chilling effect towards election workers and others."

He explained that Trump called in "staff operations specialists and investigative operations specialists to the Atlanta field office," and "this is the kind of people where it looks like you would be dumping a ton of paperwork, maybe ballots on them."

The instructions to these hundreds of FBI analysts could even be to go through the ballots and investigate them "one at a time," Miller added. However, he cautioned that, "if they're doing a recount, that kind of usurps the election authorities of the state."

Whether or not they find anything, Miller warned, "You're creating this atmosphere that there's something wrong there, and I can't see these two things being unconnected," again referring to the Save America Act and noting that this "could have been done last week."