ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed retired federal judge William Duffey Jr. chairman of the State Elections Board, Kemp announced Friday.
Duffey succeeds Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was removed as board chairman by a provision in a comprehensive election reform law the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed last year in the aftermath of unproven claims of widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Duffey retired in 2018 from the federal bench, where he served as a district judge for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Judge Duffey has been involved in complex litigation for decades, both as a lawyer and a judge,” Kemp said Friday. “Through his vast experience, he has established himself as a man of integrity who will uphold the highest ethnical standards in his application of the laws of our state and nation.”
Before becoming a judge in 2004, Duffey served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Before that, he was a partner at Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding.
“I have dedicated my career to serving others to seek fair and just results in legal matters,” Duffey said. “Our democracy is founded on citizens participating in the process to elect those who govern them.
“I am committed to working with my colleagues on the State Elections Board to perform our duty to protect the integrity of the election process because every Georgia voter is entitled to know their vote is secure and that it counts.”
Duffey has served in a variety of assignments that focused on ethics and integrity. In 2019, he was a member of the City of Atlanta Task Force on the Promotion of Public Trust.
From 2008 to 2015, Duffey represented the United States judiciary on nine trips to Ukraine to make presentations to judges and government officials on the requirement of ethical conduct as the foundation of an independent judiciary in a democracy.
At King & Spalding, Duffey’s practice included ethics counseling, specifically state and local elected officials’ compliance with state ethics requirements.
The State Elections Board promulgates rules and regulations governing state and local elections and adjudicates complaints of voter fraud.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A form of highly contagious bird flu has been detected in a backyard farm in Toombs County, the first outbreak in Georgia this year, the state Department of Agriculture reported.
Late last month, after the flock owners reported sick birds and an increased rate of mortality, samples were taken and tested for the presence of H5N1 avian influenza virus.
The state veterinarian’s office issued an order last February after a highly contagious form of bird flu broke out in three other states canceling all exhibitions, shows, flea market or auction sales, swaps and meets involving poultry and other feathered fowl. That order remains in effect.
In Georgia, the outbreak appears to be limited to one farm, and bird flu has not been detected in commercial poultry in the state.
Bird flu does not pose a risk to the food supply, and no affected animals entered the food chain. The risk of human infection with avian influenza is very low.
“Poultry is the top sector of our No.-1 industry, agriculture, and we are committed to protecting the livelihoods of the many farm families that are dependent on it,” Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black said Thursday. “In order to successfully do that, it is imperative that we continue our efforts of extensive biosecurity.”
Poultry flock owners are encouraged to closely observe their birds and report a sudden increase in the number of sick birds or bird deaths to the Avian Influenza Hotline at 770-766-6850.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testified Thursday before a Fulton County special grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Trump spent an hour in a recorded phone conversation on Jan. 2 of last year pressuring fellow Republican Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia results. Democrat Joe Biden had carried Georgia the previous November by 11,779 votes.
Raffensperger refused to go along with Trump in the exchange, which the secretary described in a subsequent book “Integrity Counts.”
Fulton District Attorney Fanni Willis’ office has been investigating the phone call and other aspects of the then-president’s efforts to reverse Biden’s victory in Georgia for months. However, the special grand jury was impaneled just last month to subpoena witnesses and begin hearing evidence.
Along with Raffensperger, the grand jury also has subpoenaed two of his top deputies, General Counsel Ryan Germany and Elections Systems Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling, to testify next week along with three former secretary of state’s office staff members.
The panel also has subpoenaed a series of documents including audits, hand counts or other evidence that Biden won the presidential election in Georgia; a forensic audit of the Dominion Voting Systems machines the state used during the 2020 election; and transcripts from a state Senate hearing held on Dec. 3, 2020, on claims of election fraud featuring former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr also has reportedly been called to testify later this month.
Raffensperger’s refusal to cooperate with Trump landed the secretary on Trump’s enemies list.
Trump recruited U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro, to challenge Raffensperger in last week’s Republican primary. Raffensperger turned the tables on the former president by winning the primary by a large enough margin to avoid a runoff.
Trump also tried to get back at Carr by endorsing John Gordon, a political unknown, to take on the attorney general on the same GOP primary ballot. Carr won that race by an even larger margin than Raffensperger’s victory.
After hearing from the witnesses and gathering other evidence, the special grand jury will decide whether Trump or others should face prosecution. If so, it would be up to a regular Fulton County grand jury whether to indict the former president.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp responded Thursday to Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams’ first ad of the general election campaign, defending his support for expanding gun rights and the anti-abortion measure he pushed through the legislature.
In an exclusive interview with Capitol Beat, Kemp argued that the “constitutional carry” bill the General Assembly passed this year allowing Georgians to carry concealed firearms without a permit will protect law-abiding citizens from criminals who don’t take the time to apply for a permit.
“Her calling constitutional carry ‘criminal carry’ is ridiculous,” he said. “Criminals are the ones who have the guns.”
Kemp also defended the “heartbeat bill” lawmakers passed in 2019, his first year in office. The law, which has been blocked by federal courts pending a much-anticipated U.S. Supreme Court determination on the legality of abortion, prohibits abortion in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically six weeks into pregnancy.
Kemp said a strict anti-abortion law is what Georgians want.
“We are a state that values life,” he said.
Abrams released her first ad of the general election campaign on Wednesday, slamming Kemp’s stance on gun rights and abortion. The 30-second spot argued the new permit-less carry law will lead to more gun crime and that the heartbeat law will roll back women’s rights by imposing prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Kemp won the Republican nomination for a second term as governor last week, defeating former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the GOP primary by an unexpectedly large margin. Abrams was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, setting up a rematch of the 2018 gubernatorial contest that saw Kemp narrowly defeat Abrams.
Kemp said Thursday he’s looking forward to hitting the campaign trail with a newly minted Republican ticket that includes state Insurance Commissioner John King, Georgia’s first Latino constitutional officer, and two African American candidates, Public Service Commissioner Fitz Johnson and U.S. Senate nominee Herschel Walker.
“I’m excited about the ticket we have,” Kemp said. “We’re going to have a very diverse, compelling ticket.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – NBCUniversal Media (NBCU) has entered into a long-term agreement with Atlanta-based Gray Television to lease and operate new studio facilities at Gray’s Assembly Atlanta development in Doraville.
Construction will begin this summer at the former site of a General Motors plant, creating up to 1,200 construction jobs.
Gray expects the Assembly Studios complex to be completed in the second half of next year. When fully operational, the studios are expected to employ more than 4,000.
“Gray Television is thrilled to expand our already strong relationship with NBCU,” Hilton Howell Jr., Gray’s executive chairman and CEO, said Wednesday.
“The new venture announced today places Gray’s own studio projects inside a large, first-class television and film production facility that will draw upon and will surely increase the large pool of skilled industry professionals who also make their homes here.”
Assembly Atlanta is a 135-acre mixed-use complex bordering Interstate 285 centered around the studio industry. The 43-acre Assembly Studios complex features soundstages, production offices, warehouse and mill buildings, studio bungalows, event space, and a parking deck.
NBCU’s lease with Gray will include a full suite of facilities needed to support television and film production.
“Georgia has hosted dozens of NBCU features and television projects over the past decade,” said Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office, a division of the state Department of Economic Development. “We look forward to their more permanent presence in Georgia’s growing film ecosystem, creating more jobs for Georgians and more opportunities for small businesses throughout the state.”
NBCU will manage all studio and production facilities within the Assembly Studios complex, including Gray’s own studio facilities and Gray’s Third Rail Studios.
Outside of the Assembly Studios complex, current plans for Assembly Atlanta include mixed-use and commercial buildings around a town center to be completed during the next five to seven years.
Longer-term development plans include a boutique hotel, townhouses and apartments, entertainment venues, a conference center and office buildings.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
