Former Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams is making headlines these days. They're not the kind that she would want, though. Per the New York Post, "A voter registration nonprofit founded by former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams secretly boosted her 2018 gubernatorial bid in violation of campaign finance law and was slapped with a $300,000 fine Wednesday." The fine was apparently imposed by Georgia's Ethics Commission.
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The Huge Fine Is Unprecedented
It Will Reportedly Be Paid
The whopping penalty "is the largest of its kind in the ethics commission's 38-year history, according to executive director David Emadi." per the Post.
Per the outlet, the New Georgia Project along with its action fund used $3.2 million "to foot the bill for canvassers and fliers supporting Abrams, 51, and others without disclosing those contributions."
The fine is reportedly going to be paid. However, there was six years of contentiousness between the ethics commission and the pair of nonprofits.
Ana Branch, the nonprofit's counsel, issued a statement about the situation to the Post. Branch explained, "We are glad to finally put this matter behind us so the New Georgia Project can fully devote its time and attention to its efforts to civically engage and register black, brown, and young voters in Georgia. We accept this outcome and are eager to turn the page on activities that took place more than five years ago."
Twelve years ago, Stacey Abrams created the New Georgia Project.
There Were Reportedly Numerous Infractions Committed By The New Georgia Project
The Post Is Reporting 'At Least 16 Instances Of Infractions'
Those problems included failing "to register as an independent campaign committee." Not doing so evidently violated state law. There were other issues as well. The two nonprofits supposedly did not make certain disclosures back in 2019. (That was a year after Abrams was defeated by Brian Kemp in the race for Georgia governor.) They involved thousands of dollars in spending and donations "to back a failed referendum for Gwinnett County to join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority," per the outlet.
Abrams and Kemp faced off again three years ago in another contest for governor. She lost that race also.
