Appeals court gives green light to campaign finance case against nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday struck down an order preventing Georgia from enforcing a state campaign finance law against two nonprofits founded by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Democrat Stacey Abrams.

A 2019 Georgia state ethics commission complaint accused the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund of illegally soliciting Democratic candidates, including Abrams, during the election of the 2018 midterms and not disclosing millions in election expenses, Axios. reported. A federal court in September 2022, however, blocked the state from enforcing the Georgia Government Campaign Finance and Transparency Act because the two nonprofits argued it was unconstitutional — a ruling that the 11th circuit vacated Monday, opening the door for the state to continue its case against them, seconds in the judicial files.

The federal judge in Atlanta who initially ruled in favor of the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund should have recused himself from taking up the case brought by the nonprofits under the Supreme Court precedent because the state's investigation was “ongoing,” according to the Eleventh Circuit ruling. The nonprofits sued to stop the enforcement in August 2022, weeks after the state's campaign finance commission held a preliminary hearing and found “reasonable grounds” that they had violated Georgia law by failing to disclose political expenses, Law360. reported.

“The state had been investigating New Georgia for years and recommended enforcement weeks before New Georgia filed its federal lawsuit,” the Eleventh Circuit panel of judges wrote.

After subpoenaing the nonprofit's bank records in 2019, state investigators found they had spent $36,000 providing candy-makers with lists of Democratic candidates to encourage people to support the 2018 election, as well as 4 .2 million dollars in unreported political spending, a local NPR affiliate. reported. Since nonprofits were trying to influence voters, rather than simply register people to vote, they should have filed campaign finance reports, seconds to the Commission on Transparency and Campaign Finance of the Government of Georgia.

The commission voted unanimously that the New Georgia project had violated state campaign finance laws. The president of the New Georgia Project, Francys Johnson, said at the time that he was not “totally surprised” by the voter, arguing that the ruling was motivated by politics, since four of the commissioners were Republicans, a local media reported. reported.

New Georgia Project Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization, which means it is allowed to engage in some types of political spending. The New Georgia Project, on the other hand, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and risks losing its tax-exempt status if it endorses political candidates or engages in advocacy partisan New Georgia Project describe as “non-partisan” on its website.

The New Georgia Project was founded by Abrams, who is no longer affiliated with it, and led by Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock from 2017 to 2020. seconds to the politician

The New Georgia Project, the New Georgia Project Action Fund and the Georgia Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Latest messages from Robert Schmad (see everything)

We have no tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.