ATLANTA – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was free to hire special prosecutors to pursue the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and pay them whatever she thought was necessary, two high-ranking county officials testified Friday.
“That’s solely the prerogative of the district attorney,” Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts told members of a state Senate committee formed to investigate allegations of misconduct and misuse of public funds lodged against Willis in her handling of the Trump prosecution. “We don’t get into that sort of detail.”
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations was formed in January after one of Trump’s co-defendants filed a motion accusing Willis of being involved in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to pursue the investigation. Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but argued it did not constitute grounds for her to be dismissed from handling the case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled last month that Willis could remain but only if Wade resigned. He did so a few hours later and was replaced as head of the investigation by Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.
At Friday’s hearing, Fulton County Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore testified that the county commission reviews and votes on the district attorney’s annual general fund budget request. Willis received $36.6 million from the general fund for the current fiscal year, she said.
An additional bucket of funds has come the federal government in the form of pandemic relief, Whitmore said.
Willis did not seek prior approval from the commission before using those funds to hire Wade and two other special prosecutors to take on the election interference case.
“The board of commissioners has no oversight over the district attorney,” Whitmore said.
After hearing that testimony, Sen. Bill Cowsert, the committee’s chairman, cited a state law that requires district attorneys seeking to hire independent contractors to receive prior approval from their county commission.
“This sounds to me like the Wild West, very little control for Fulton County,” said Cowsert, R-Athens.
But Fulton County Attorney Soo Joo said the state law applies only to assistant district attorneys, and it’s unclear either in case law or court rulings whether it should also pertain to special prosecutors.
Cowsert said one of the Senate committee’s purposes is to determine whether there’s a need to pass new laws or amend existing laws to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system. He said requiring district attorneys to submit for prior approval requests to hire special prosecutors is an issue lawmakers may address.
ATLANTA – The debate over a tax break the data center industry has enjoyed in Georgia for the last six years has moved from the General Assembly to the governor’s office.
The legislature passed a bill during this year’s session suspending for two years a state sales tax exemption on purchases of data center equipment aimed at attracting more data centers to Georgia.
The measure also would create a 14-member state commission to study how the tax break has been affecting the state’s existing electric grid and energy supply and make recommendations by June 30, 2026, on how those impacts should be addressed.
While environmental advocates are urging Gov. Brian Kemp to sign the bill, representatives of the data center industry are asking him to veto it. Kemp has until Tuesday, May 7, to sign or veto legislation the General Assembly passed this year.
Republican legislative leaders got behind House Bill 1192, arguing for the need to slow the rush of data centers lured to Georgia by the tax break. Since the sales tax exemption was approved in 2018, such high-profile companies as Microsoft, Meta, and Google have set up data-center operations in the Peach State.
The bill’s supporters said the industry’s rapid growth is putting a strain on the state’s capacity to supply enough electricity for the power-hungry data centers. That point was driven home when executives with Georgia Power said the industry accounted for 80% of the additional electrical generating capacity the utility was seeking from the state Public Service Commission.
With that concern in mind, nine environmental organizations – including Environment Georgia, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the state chapter of the Sierra Club – sent a letter late last month urging Kemp to sign the bill. The letter raised concerns about how unchecked growth of data centers could affect residential electric bills.
“Georgia Power customers already have seen steady increases in their bills in recent years,” the letter stated. “There is no guarantee that data centers will shoulder expanded electricity demand alone.”
The letter went on to warn that the higher demand for electricity data centers pose would result in greater reliance on fossil fuels, hurting air quality and increasing carbon emissions.
Besides the stress data centers put on electricity, they also require a great deal of water to cool servers and other computing equipment, the environmental groups wrote.
“By signing HB1192, you will move forward reasonable steps that will help Georgia understand and plan for the large environmental and financial impacts data centers bring to our state,” the letter suggested to the governor.
But advocates for the industry say ending the tax break for the next two years would send the wrong message to an industry that relies on certainty and predictability.
Josh Levi, president of the Virginia-based Data Center Coalition, cited a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report that Georgia’s data center industry provided 22,760 jobs in 2021.
“The abrupt suspension of the High-Tech Data Center Equipment Tax Incentive Program in HB1192 would create tremendous uncertainty around many data center projects planned and actively under development across the state,” Levi said.
“Additionally, there is risk of data center customers migrating to the more than 25 other states that maintain tax policies similar to the program HB1192 would suspend.”
The bill’s supporters counter that the suspension of the sales tax exemption would only apply to new data center projects, not those already in the pipeline.
ATLANTA – One of the world’s leading producers of lightweight components in the automotive and aerospace industries will invest $184 million in a new manufacturing plant in Augusta, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday.
GF Casting Solutions, based in Switzerland, will create 350 jobs at the facility in Richmond County.
“Having met the great team at GF Casting Solutions during our recent mission to Switzerland, we could not be more excited to welcome them to the Peach State,” Kemp said. “Congratulations to Augusta and Richmond County for securing these jobs of the future for Georgians.”
GF Casting Solutions, a division of Georg Fischer AG, develops and produces parts made from aluminum, magnesium, iron, and super alloy for light passenger vehicles, trucks, and off-highway vehicles, as well as components with aerospace and energy applications.
“The new facility will complete our footprint to become truly global in the e-mobility market,” said Carlos Vasto, the company’s president. “We are looking forward to bringing leading technology to the U.S. and to creating advanced manufacturing jobs for several generations in Georgia.”
The company is looking to hire workers for manufacturing and automation, with jobs being posted as they become available. For information on job opportunities with GF Casting Solutions, click on www.georgfischer.com/en/career.html.
“GF Casting Solutions is one of many fantastic companies we have worked with through our connections in Europe,” Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson said. “European companies demonstrate a wealth of business experience, going back centuries in the case of GF, combined with an intentional focus on innovation that is driving the market forward.”
The economic development agency’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the Augusta Economic Development Authority, Georgia Power, the State of Georgia Europe Office, and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program.
ATLANTA – A Georgia man was sentenced to 57 months in prison Thursday for assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Jack Wade Whitton, 33, of Locust Grove pleaded guilty in federal court in September 2022 to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
According to court documents, Whitton pulled a metal crutch from a crowd approaching a police line, raised it overhead, and thrust it repeatedly at police, striking law enforcement officers. Although an officer gained control of the crutch, Whitton continued fighting, grabbing at officers with his hands and kicking an officer lying on the ground.
Whitton then grabbed an officer’s baton and dragged the officer head-first and face-down into a crowd of rioters, where the officer was beaten.
Later that day, Whitton threw an object at a line of officers, then reached over a balustrade to throw a punch at them.
In the days following the riot, Whitton posted about his conduct at the Capitol on social media, expressing pride in his participation in the assaults.
He was arrested in Locust Grove in April 2021. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta and Washington field offices and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia assisted by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Following the prison sentence, Whitton will have to serve 36 months of supervised release. He also has been ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
ATLANTA – A former Augusta University employee has been indicted for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from the school, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Thursday.
Dawn Gantt, 43, of Martinez, has been charged with one count of racketeering in connection with 288 acts of theft by taking and 19 acts of false statements and writings.
Gantt served as the dean’s office coordinator for Augusta University’s Dental College. She is accused of stealing from the college between February 2016 until she was fired last October.
“University employees are expected to help further our mission to provide a world-class education, and those who choose to instead engage in unlawful activity will be held accountable,” Carr said. “Stealing from our college campuses means stealing from Georgia’s students, and it won’t be tolerated.”
The attorney general’s Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit presented evidence in the case to a Richmond County grand jury, resulting in the indictment of Gantt last month.
The Augusta University Police Department investigated the case.
