Three Republicans on Georgia's state election board earned former President Donald Trump's approval for the second time in a week, this time after voting to reinvestigate the 2020 election − despite being cautioned by a colleague that their actions could be illegal.
Trump reposted a video of the portion of the board's Wednesday meeting when the three Republican members outvoted the one Democrat and the nonpartisan chairman to revive the inquiry.
"The Attorney General of Georgia MUST get moving on this. So must Governor Kemp, and the Secretary of State. ... WE MUST WIN GEORGIA IN 2024!!!" Trump commented above the video on Truth Social. On Saturday, Trump shouted out each of the three Republican board members by name at a campaign rally, describing them "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory."
The Republican trio on the board came under firerecently for quietly holding a meeting to pass new election rules without their other two colleagues.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are both Republicans, but they both refused to bow to Trump's pressure to reverse President Joe Biden's victory in the state in 2020.
Illegality concern dismissed
The Republican majority pushed forward with the reinvestigation despite Georgia State Election Board Chairman John Fervier, who was appointed by Kemp, warning the move could be illegal. Democratic board member Sara Ghazal also voted against the move.
"I do want to caution this board that we are putting this board in legal jeopardy by approving that motion," Fervier said. "I want to make sure that the attorney general is aware of that," he added.
Fervier said the board has adjudicated hundreds – if not thousands – of cases before, and the attempt to reopen this one sets a "horrible" precedent and "never-ending scenario."
But Republican board member Janice Johnston, who introduced the motion for the reinvestigation, said in her view the case had never been closed.
"The amount of times I've been told not to do something because we could possibly be sued, I mean, if you were doing a drinking game, we would all be drunk," Republican member Janelle King added after the vote. She said the board shouldn't be "scared to makes moves because of the fear of that, because in some cases it's just the right thing to do."
The third vote in support came from GOP board member Rick Jeffares, who posted memes after the 2020 election "that suggested dead people had voted by mail, claimed the Democrats and China had colluded, and implied that Democrats had cheated,” according to theAtlanta Journal Constitution.
Investigation confirmed Biden won Georgia
On May 7, Johnston voted against the original resolution of the issue, in which the board decided in a 2-1 vote to issue a letter of reprimand to Fulton County and direct the county to have a monitor oversee the 2024 election. The county later agreed to that monitor oversight.
That resolution followed a presentation by Secretary of State General Counsel Charlene McGowan the same day, in which she said Fulton County "used improper procedures" during a recount of the 2020 presidential election, but that multiple counts confirmed Biden won the state.
The Georgia attorney general's office represents the election board and also sometimes provides guidance on how its actions fit within the law. However, the Republican board members appeared to be trying to separate that office from the move to reinvestigate.
Board member Johnston indicated she communicated with other legal counsel out of concern that the board's regular attorney also represents the Georgia secretary of state's office and therefore "perhaps" has a conflict of interest.
Previous complaint
American Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog, alleged in a lawsuit that the rules recently adopted by the GOP trio were unlawful because the meeting violated Georgia laws that generally require at least a week of advance notice for agency meetings, and a quorum of three people appearing in person as well as public access to a teleconferencing meeting. Two members appeared in person, while Johnston appeared by video, according to the lawsuit.
The nonprofit said the trio ignored guidance from the state attorney general's office that the meeting would probably be unlawful.
The Republican members agreed to withdraw the rules after the lawsuit was filed. King told USA TODAY everything “was conducted within legal limits as long as the majority of the board agreed to participate,” but "in the spirit of board unity,” they decided to revisit the issues in a later meeting.
