By Jill Nolin | Editor
The DOJ’s frenzied quest to turn up evidence of wrongdoing in the 2020 presidential election was dealt a setback this week. A Trump-appointed judge ruled that too much time has passed for criminal charges to be filed for alleged 2020 election-related crimes, but he also expressed other concerns about the probe.
But that’s just one piece of the puzzle for a state that has become ground zero for Trump’s fixation with his 2020 election loss, as columnist Jay Bookman writes.
Here’s a look back at those stories and others from the past week. And if you enjoy our recap of the week, please share this newsletter with a friend to help us grow.
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Trump-appointed Judge William M. Ray, ends a monthslong effort from the Department of Justice to obtain the private information of nearly 3,000 election workers and volunteers in Fulton County during the 2020 election. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
ELECTIONS
By Maya Homan
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking personal information from the nearly 3,000 Georgians who served as Fulton County election workers and volunteers during the 2020 election, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s escalating effort to uncover alleged voter fraud in Georgia.
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Trump-appointed Judge William M. Ray, ends a monthslong effortfrom the Department of Justice to obtain the names, positions, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of election workers in Georgia’s most populous county. Lawyers for the Justice Department argued the records were needed to investigate possible election law violations.
FBI agents loaded boxes onto a truck during a January raid at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
COMMENTARY
By Jay Bookman
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has its sights fixed on Georgia, its election system and those who run it.
Should our state and local election officials be nervous? No, because they’ve done nothing wrong.
But yes, because this isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about power.
Frontline founder Cole Muzio stumps for Georgia religious liberty law, which opponents said will allow for legal discrimination against LGBTQ Georgians. Frontline was recently fined for alleged ethics violations. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
ETHICS
By Ross Williams
Frontline Policy, an influential Georgia conservative lobbying group, is facing $17,500 in fines in connection to complaints over unregistered lobbying and failing to file more than $380,000 in mandatory disclosure reports.
The fines were announced at last month’s Georgia State Ethics Commission meeting. Frontline was previously fined more than $4,000 by the commission for violating lobbying laws, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The QTS data center complex under development in Fayetteville, Georgia, US, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ENERGY
By Alander Rocha
The Georgia Public Service Commission approved an investigation into whether Georgia Power’s industrial customers who are heavy energy consumers, like data centers, are shifting some costs to residential customers.
The investigation was part of an agreement the utility company and PSC staff reached in May that slightly lowered the amount of the utility’s fuel and Hurricane Helene cleanup costs could be passed on to residential customers.
Legislators will convene at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center to address Georgia's post-conviction landscape, which Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson labeled “broken” and “a mess” in an opinion issued earlier this year. John McCosh/Georgia Recorder
COURTS
By Maya Homan
A legislative study committee aimed at improving the appeals process for those convicted of crimes in Georgia will hold its first meeting Friday to address a system that Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson labeled “broken” and “a mess” in an opinion issued earlier this year.
The case centered around Joshua Sanders, an Alabama man who was convicted in 2023 of killing two Georgia women in Vidalia. The day after he was sentenced, he filed a motion for a new trial, which was later denied. In an appeal to that denial, he claimed that his court-appointed lawyers were ineffective during his trial, and that the lawyers who filed the appeal did not mention his ineffective counsel claims when requesting a new trial.
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
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