A group of Georgia lawmakers are calling for a special legislative session to defund Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from investigating, charging or otherwise punishing her after she accused former President Donald Trump and 18 charged more people with trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. That group includes Republican Sens. Colton Moore of Trenton and Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, as well as Rep. Charlice Byrd of Woodstock.
Another larger and more powerful group has not committed to this. Its members include all of the state’s other 233 lawmakers, but Moore and his trio aren’t moving away quietly, continuing their calls at a news conference and rally at the Capitol on Thursday.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said prosecuting Willis would “ignore current Georgia law and directly interfere in the proceedings of a separate but co-equal branch of government,” and House Speaker Jon Burns said the plan “defies the idea.” the separation of powers on display, if not directly.” violates it.”
It would also mean convincing a two-thirds majority in both chambers — meaning Moore and Beach would have to persuade 36 of their fellow senators to join in, and Byrd would have the difficult task of convincing 119 of their colleagues to defy the governor and speaker. Quite a few Democrats would have to join their conservative GOP colleagues in punishing Willis, who is also a Democrat.
But Moore said he won’t give up easily and hit back at Kemp at a news conference and rally at the Capitol on Thursday.
“The governor made some statements in his own press conference a week ago that are a great disgrace to the office, the most prestigious office in this state. He calls me a fraud and a fraud,” he said. “I represent 200,000 hardworking Georgians in northwest Georgia. The people I represent and who duly elected me sweat hard for their tax dollars and do not want their tax dollars funding this type of corrupt government power.”
Senator Colton Moore addresses an unusually crowded press conference. Ross Williams/Georgia recorder
Moore narrowly won his first term in the state Senate in 2022, receiving fewer than 15,000 votes in a primary that decided who would represent a reliably red district on the Tennessee border.
Moore said he wants his colleagues to use the power of the budget to redirect funds away from Willis’ office.
“The wording would say all the money can be used as you see fit, except for Fulton County, and then, as far as I know, constitutionally we have to fund the office with something, but I’m suggesting a dollar.”
Speaking to reporters, Moore indicated that he had not met with the Senate Budget Office or legal counsel to consider whether his plan was legally possible.
“What do you mean by legally possible?” he asked. “I am a member of the legislature. I am a member of the Republic. I am not asking the Office of Planning and Budgets for permission on how my constituents’ tax dollars can be spent.”
Moore also dismissed questions about how law enforcement would prosecute suspected criminals with a dollar from the state.
“She’s not fighting crime now and that’s more of a reason to investigate her,” he said.
Sen. Colton Moore and Rep. Charlice Byrd. Ross Williams/Georgia recorder
“Fulton County has to pay for this,” he added. “The Fulton County Commission needs to tax its citizens more or they need to reallocate their tax dollars and fund Fani Willis, but my citizens that I represent do not want their tax dollars going to Fani Willis.”
Moore may have lacked sufficient support from lawmakers to make good on his threat, but he had the support of a crowd of several dozen believers who packed the seats of a legislative chamber to listen to his news conference, cheer him on, and sometimes Members boo the media. Some in the crowd were members of the Tea Party Patriots.
Tea Party co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said Willis’ actions crossed the line into overtly political action.
“District Attorney Fani Lewis (sic) abused her authority for partisan political purposes, and that is wrong,” she said. “Their unlawful prosecution – which I believe is indeed persecution – must be defunded and an investigation launched. And if this investigation leads to impeachment, then so be it.”
Multiple audits, recounts and legal challenges found no evidence of widespread legal fraud in the 2020 election, but none of those auditors, recounts or challengers were in the crowd Thursday. Instead, most were convinced that the election had been stolen and Trump was being punished for speaking out.
“It’s OK to contest the election,” said Bruce LeVell, a Trump ally and adviser. “The election was over. “Let me call Brad (Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State). “Brad, I know I won. I know it’s 11,000 (votes). Go back and look.’ This is called questioning. That’s called asking questions.”
Bruce LeVell. Ross Williams/Georgia recorder
The indictment accuses Trump of a criminal conspiracy to recoup his loss. This alleged conspiracy includes, but is not limited to, attempting to convince Raffensperger to illegally inflate his vote count by using fake voters to overrule votes, intimidating poll workers and falsely admitting that they miscounted their votes, and breaking into voting equipment .
Some Republicans appear to have had enough of Moore’s goals and tactics – which include posting the phone numbers of fellow lawmakers on social media and publicly denigrating those who disagree with him, as well as using language that some fear will be too could incite violence against lawmakers, prosecutors or jurors.
The unhappy atmosphere has led some to speculate that he could face punishment, including expulsion from the caucus, but Moore struck a defiant tone Thursday.
“We are holding a caucus behind closed doors for three days starting Monday. It will be the first time the Senate Republican caucus has officially met as a caucus since this fell. My answer to your question and my answer to my fellow Republicans is: Make my day. Vote me out of the group.”
Moore promised to continue to make life difficult for Republicans until the session began in January, and then he would continue to make life difficult for Republicans.
“I will continue to call, and I am sure other colleagues will, to call a special session until we are in session and then I will move to amend the budget and defund Fani Willis. “, and we will hold a roll call vote,” he said.
Protesters gather in support of a special session to oust Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis. Ross Williams/Georgia recorder
