State and Local News That Matters
Federal authorities have charged a Marietta, Georgia man with obtaining a fraudulent $9.5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan.
Carl Delano Torjagbo, also known as Karl Lucius Delano, 42, faces bank fraud and money laundering charges. He was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker and remanded to custody.
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich released a video on Facebook urging the voters of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District to vote for Jake Evans in the Republican primary that is scheduled for May 24.
“I’m Newt Gingrich. I was Speaker of the House and we developed the Contract with America to get America back on track with solid, conservative ideas – balancing the budget, reforming welfare, cutting taxes – and I wanted to take a minute or two just to share with you about a good friend of mine who’s running for Congress,” he said.
Former U.S. Senator David Perdue’s Trump-endorsed campaign for Georgia Governor announced several upcoming stops around the state as the May 24 Republican primary draws near.
As of press time, the election is less than a week away and Perdue’s best hope at continuing his campaign appears to be an attempt to force incumbent Governor Brian Kemp into a June run-off election by holding him to under 50 percent of the vote.
Jake Evans, the 6th Congressional District candidate endorsed by Donald Trump, spoke with The Georgia Star News on Friday about his success fighting for election integrity in the 2020 elections in Banks, Stephens, and Habersham Counties.
Evans stated, “[I’m the] only lawyer in Georgia history to overturn two elections in the same race, and then I contested the other one down in Long County. So, we found people that voted twice. We found people voting in a district they didn’t live in. We found people that were wrongly assigned a district. We found people who hadn’t signed absentee ballots. There’s fraud out there. It’s a thing.”
Georgia is doling out more than $415 million in federal relief money as grants to help nonprofits recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The money, which goes to more than 30 recipients, is from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
Public records indicate Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams sponsored legislation when she was the Georgia House minority leader that was related to her private business interests. The legislation Abrams sponsored in 2015 – with four other Republicans – addressed taxes paid on debt that was not collected.
At the time the legislation was under consideration, Abrams was senior vice president at a company called NOWaccount, according to an archive of the company’s website.
Abrams had started NOWaccount in 2010 with two business partners. The company charged fees to small business for accepting the task of collecting the businesses outstanding receivables.
Jake Evans, the Trump-endorsed candidate in the May 24 Republican primary for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District seat said, “We’ve got to finish the wall.”
Evans’ comments come as part of a wide-ranging conversation that he had with The Georgia Star News.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation to keep defendants facing human trafficking charges from immediately returning to the streets after their arrest.
Senate Bill 461 adds human trafficking to the list of violent and sexual offenses that require a Superior Court judge to grant bail. The list also includes treason, rape, murder and aircraft hijacking.
South Korea-based automaker Hyundai is set to announce a new $7 billion manufacturing electric vehicle (EV) plant in the U.S. that will also make gas-powered cars, according to several media reports.
“We are excited to announce a new EV plant plan in the United States soon, but we do not have details to share at this stage,” Hyundai told Reuters in a statement on Monday.
Gov. Brian P. Kemp is leading former senator David A. Perdue Jr. with 57 percent of support compared to 27 percent for his challenger, endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, according to The Star News Network-Kaplan Strategies poll of 431 likely Georgia Republican primary voters, conducted May 7 through May 13.
“Kemp’s strength this close to the May 24 primary is stunning, and it is nearly certain he will win the Republican nomination,” said Doug Kaplan, the founder and president of the Florida-based firm that executed the poll. The poll carries a 4.7 percent margin of error.
Sixty percent of respondents blame their state and local elected officials for not protecting the 2020 election from voter fraud in The Star News Network-Kaplan Strategies poll of 431 likely Georgia Republican voters executed May 7 through May 13.
“This poll shows that the handling of the 2020 election is still very present for a majority of Georgia Republicans,” said Doug Kaplan, the founder and president of Kaplan Strategies, the Florida-based firm that conducted the poll. The poll carries a 4.7 percent margin of error.
Georgia Secretary of State Bradford J. Raffensperger and his main challenger Rep. Jody B. Hice, who is endorsed by President Donald J. Trump, are locked into a statistical tie at 26 percent going into the May 24 primary, according to The Star News Network-Kaplan Strategies poll executed May 7 through May 13 of 431 likely Georgia Republican voters.
“It is significant that Raffensperger is far from the 50 percent bar, and he has not been able to shake off Hice’s insurgent campaign,” said Doug Kaplan, the founder and president of Kaplan Strategies, the Florida-based firm that conducted the poll. The poll carries a margin of error is 4.7 percent.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed the state’s more than $30.2 billion fiscal 2023 state budget, increasing spending by more than 10% over last year’s budget.
The plan, which takes effect July 1, exceeds $57.9 billion when including other funds, such as more than $17.6 billion in federal money and grants.
In an act of opposition against former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence will rally with Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on the eve of Georgia’s primary election day.
Kemp confirmed the news on his Twitter account, saying he was “honored” to have Pence’s support.
A record number of Georgians continue to cast ballots in the state’s 2022 primary election during the early voting period.
Through Wednesday, May 11, during the second week of early voting for Georgia’s 2022 primary election, nearly 270,000 Georgians cast early votes. The numbers are a 159% increase from the primary in 2020 and a 235% increase from 2018.
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Former President Donald J. Trump is taking out his frustrations as current and former governors from across the country continue to support Gov. Brian Kemp (R), a political enemy of the former president, for reelection in Georgia.
“Today, the worst ‘election integrity’ Governor in the country, Brian Kemp, loaded the great state of Georgia up with RINOs. That’s right, he had them all,” Trump said in Wednesday statement. “Chris Christie, Doug Ducey from Arizona, and Pete Ricketts from Nebraska. That tells you all you need to know about what you are getting in Georgia—just a continuation of bad elections and a real RINO if you vote for Brian Kemp.”
Jake Evans, the Trump-endorsed candidate in the Republican primary for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, spoke with The Georgia Star News about election integrity.
“I firmly believe that without secure elections, we have no country. This is an issue that I have been fighting for since 2018,” said Evans.
The Trump-endorsed candidate in the May 24 Republican primary for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District seat, Jake Evans, spoke with The Georgia Star News about the importance of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and what it was like to meet with him.
“I believe firmly that the America First agenda delivered four of the best years that we’ve had in a very very long time, definitely since the Reagan era,” said Evans. “I believe in secure borders, protecting our law enforcement, less regulations, lower taxes – all of which President Trump did.”
The Trump-endorsed David Perdue for Georgia Governor campaign issued a statement on Wednesday that says Perdue is surging and Trump voters are turning out in an unprecedented way.
“Our Trump-endorsed campaign is experiencing a surge in early-voting MAGA voters that the public polls aren’t picking up. Our internal models show this MAGA surge keeping Kemp below the threshold to avoid a runoff, and our position is strengthening with each day of early voting,” said the campaign.
45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Wednesday that Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, is ‘the worst election integrity Governor in the country.’
Trump added that Kemp, “loaded the great state of Georgia up with RINOs.”
ATLANTA, Georgia – Georgia Attorney General (AG) candidate John Gordon invited incumbent AG Chris Carr on Monday to participate in five debates on election fraud and violent crime rates before the primary election on May 24.
In a press release, Gordon stated, “John Gordon issues an invitation to AG Carr to address unprosecuted voter fraud, and the soaring rates of rape and murder.”
The Trump-endorsed candidate in the May 24 Republican primary, former U.S. Senator David Perdue, issued a statement on Monday in the aftermath of the shooting of six people on Mother’s Day.
“This is another tragic example of what happens when a Governor keeps his ‘powder dry’ instead of taking bold action to keep people safe. Crime is out of control across the state. People are being shot daily, but Brian Kemp is missing in action. This disaster is happening on his watch. My question to the people of Georgia is do you feel safe? If not, then it’s time for a new Governor. Nothing is more important to me than ensuring you and your family are safe.”
Hyundai Motor Co. has held discussions with Georgia officials about building its new electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the state, according to reports.
It is unclear whether Georgia might offer tax incentives to lure Hyundai to the state.
Just months after Georgia’s Secretary of State announced that the state’s voter registration management system would be changed, one county is reporting issues as early voting for the May 24 primary elections begins.
“Unfortunately, the 2022 Primary Advance Voting began with multiple issues at polling locations throughout Cobb County,” the Cobb County Republican Party said in a May 5 statement. “Since the polls opened on Monday, May 2, 2022, problems have included poll pad voter data being missing and incorrect information on certain ballots; some ballots excluded a State Representative race and some ballots excluded the Cityhood referendums. Since our vote is anonymous, once a ballot is cast there is no way to rectify an issue.”
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Sunday launched a new Twitter account that was suspended less than four hours after its creation.
On the move by the social media giant, Lindell said, “Like the [banned] Twitter account, it’s more corrupt than you’ve seen there. Twitter, a week before that – a week before – they put up a fake account. Twitter’s done this three times to me, and then they run the account, and act like they’re me. So they go, ‘Oh, Mike’s okay with the election.’ Like everything’s business as normal.
Former Acting United States Attorney General Matthew Whitaker recently announced his full endorsement of Jake Evans, a candidate for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
The Trump-appointed former acting attorney general stated on Monday, “Jake shares my passion for backing the men and women in law enforcement who put their own safety on the line, make life-and-death decisions and face contempt and hate from the Left at every turn. If I was a 6th District voter … Jake Evans would be my choice for Congress.”
With the Georgia General Assembly’s passage of the Election Integrity Act of 2021, otherwise known as SB202, the application of absentee ballot drop boxes looks significant different in the first statewide elections since the January 5, 2021, federal runoff and special election for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats.
The use of drop boxes in the November 2020 presidential and January 2021 elections were enabled by an emergency rule promulgated by the State Election Board in June of 2020. During the November 2020 election, more than 300 absentee ballot drop boxes were deployed throughout the state, funded with $45 million in “Zuck Bucks” that flowed through the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) into Georgia, according to analysis conducted by Capital Research Center.
On Monday, the Georgia Department of Public Health touted newly passed legislation that, in the view of the agency, helps protect children from the dangers of lead.
In a statement, Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., commissioner, Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) said, “DPH is extremely grateful to the members of the General Assembly and the Governor for their decisive action which allows for a more robust program for identifying and preventing cases of lead poisoning, and protecting the children of Georgia.”
A scandal is brewing in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, with candidate and former Sen. David Perdue accusing incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp of engaging in shady backroom deals and lining the pockets of liberal megadonor George Soros as part of a massive new economic development project in the Peach State.
“This may be the worst deal I’ve seen in my business career, honestly,” Perdue told the “Just the News, Not Noise” television program on Friday. “This was just done the wrong way. And I’ve called the governor out on that, and we’ve had no response.”
Minnesotan entrepreneur, conservative politico, and CEO of My Pillow, Mike Lindell, spoke to The Georgia Star News on Saturday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he criticized the three most infamous election integrity antagonists in the Peach State when he declared, “you guys have the Triple Crown of Crime down here with Kemp, Raffensperger and Carr and all of them need to go.”
Lindell continued, “I mean, this is our country. Of all the stuff I’ve been out there fighting for with the election crimes. And then you have Republicans, the Republicans have turned on, not just Georgia, but on our country. I mean, you’ve got to get new people and we got to get people that have the people’s back.”