{"id":2391303,"date":"2025-01-16T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stacey-abrams-makes-history-as-largest-ever-election-ethics-fine-of-its-kind-imposed-on-activist-groups-she-founded\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T15:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T20:57:14","slug":"stacey-abrams-makes-history-as-largest-ever-election-ethics-fine-of-its-kind-imposed-on-activist-groups-she-founded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stacey-abrams-makes-history-as-largest-ever-election-ethics-fine-of-its-kind-imposed-on-activist-groups-she-founded\/","title":{"rendered":"Stacey Abrams Makes History as Largest Ever Election Ethics Fine of Its Kind Imposed on Activist Groups She Founded"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstacey-abrams-makes-history-as-largest-ever-election-ethics-fine-of-its-kind-imposed-on-activist-groups-she-founded%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2391303&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Two political \u2063advocacy groups founded by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, namely the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, were fined a\u200b total of $300,000 by the Georgia \u2063State \u2063Ethics Commission for failing to disclose over $7 million in contributions\u2064 and spending related to Abrams&#8217; 2018 campaign for governor.This fine is noted as the \u2062largest ever\u2063 imposed\u2064 by \u2062a state \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-ice-nominee-took-trip-to-china-funded-by-cash-for-visas-advocacy-group\/\" title=\"Biden ICE Nominee Took Trip to China Funded by Cash-for-Visas Advocacy Group\">ethics commission<\/a>\u2062 in relation to an election and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nolte-npr-stands-behind-debunked-fable-about-scotus-mask-controversy\/\" title=\"Nolte: NPR Stands Behind Debunked Fable About SCOTUS Mask Controversy\">campaign finance case<\/a>\u2062 in the U.S. The case revealed 16 violations involving $4.2 million in contributions and $3.2 million\u2062 in spending, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nlpc-china-increased-donation-to-upenns-biden-center-by-400-percent-after-biden-announced-2020-presidential-campaign\/\" title=\"NLPC: China increased donation to UPenn\u2019s Biden Center by 400 percent after Biden announced 2020 presidential campaign\">including undisclosed donations<\/a> and expenditures.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation, which began in 2019,\u200d uncovered that some of the funds were used for canvassing, advocating for candidates, and operating field offices. even tho Abrams was not the CEO of \u2063the New Georgia Project during the time in \u200cquestion,she acknowledged the significance of the events as the money raised largely supported\u2062 her gubernatorial campaign.Raphael Warnock served as\u2063 CEO during the relevant period, but a representative stated he was unaware of any violations. The commission emphasized that illegal influences in \u2064elections, regardless of political affiliation, should concern the public, and highlighted the complexity of the investigation, which \u200cfaced attempts at obfuscation \u200dby the new \u2064Georgia Project. The\u2062 organization expressed relief at resolving the\u2063 matter, now aiming to refocus on voter engagement efforts in Georgia.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Two political advocacy groups founded by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams were fined by a Georgia ethics panel for failing to disclose millions in contributions and spending during Abrams&rsquo; failed 2018 campaign for governor of Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today the State Ethics Commission entered into a consent agreement with the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund for a total of $300,000,&rdquo; the Georgia State Ethics Commission posted in a statement on Wednesday, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/stacey-abrams-founded-groups-slapped-historic-fine-campaign-finance-violations?intcmp=tw_fnc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This certainly represents the largest fine imposed in the history of Georgia&rsquo;s Ethics Commission, but it also appears to be the largest ethics fine ever imposed by any state ethics commission in the country related to an election and campaign finance case,&rdquo; the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This represents the largest and most significant instance of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/group-stacey-abrams-created-to-help-herself-faces-record-fine\/\" title=\"Group Stacey Abrams Created To Help Herself Faces Record Fine\">organization illegally influencing<\/a> our statewide elections in Georgia that we have ever discovered, and I believe this sends a clear message to both the public and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">potential bad actors moving forward<\/a> that we will hold you accountable,&rdquo; the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>The &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/powerful-voting-group-founded-stacey-abrams-lays-off-employees-amid-steep-fall-grace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Georgia Project<\/a> was founded by Abrams in 2013 as a charity; the New Georgia Project Action Fund was the fund-raising part of the organization.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The groups were found to have committed 16 violations involving $4.2 million in contributions and $3.2 million in spending related to the 2018 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the groups allegedly failed to report $646,000 in donations and $174,000 in spending.<\/p>\n<p>The amount involved vastly exceeds the amount involved in the trial of former President Donald Trump, who was convicted in New York state of falsifying business records concerning a $130,000 payment, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-hush-money-michael-cohen-stormy-mcdougal-6e73d8e03fc749ec123ac833e0e0f6f2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(For the mathematicians, Trump&rsquo;s $130,000 represents less than two percent of the total $7.4 million Abrams&rsquo; groups are alleged to have improperly reported.)<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ethics-campaign-finance-georgia-stacey-abrams-warnock-8f243dc14fe40108ae937507719a776b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AP<\/a>&nbsp;Abrams was not the CEO of the group after stepping down in 2017, and said she had no involvement in the group, even though much of the money raised and spent in 2018 supported her campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-alert-ga-dems-move-secure-warnock-win-defying-state-election-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Raphael Warnock<\/a> was the CEO of the group during the years covered by the fine. A representative of Warnock said he had no knowledge of any violations.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Brewer, a Warnock representative, said &ldquo;compliance decisions were not a part of that work&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The New Georgia Project said in a statement that it is &ldquo;glad to finally put this matter behind us&rdquo; so the group can &ldquo;fully devote its time and attention to its efforts to civically engage and register black, brown, and young voters in Georgia,&rdquo; according to Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>A consent order in the case said that money spent &ldquo;included, but were not limited to, canvassing activities, literature expressly advocating for the election of candidates, social media engagement, and operating field offices with paid staff where those electioneering activities were organized,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/nonprofit-founded-stacey-abrams-pay-record-georgia-fine-violating-stat-rcna187885\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div>The state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/cope-real-election-denier-stacey-abrams-refuses-admit-trump-win-seismic-shift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigation<\/a> began in 2019, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/election\/abrams-group-to-pay-largest-fine-for-campaign-violations-in-georgia-history\/3Q3SFGNDNFEXLBIUYUB3ONDRM4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if you&rsquo;re a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, Green Party &mdash; if people are breaking the law and illegally influencing an election, particularly to the extent they did, that should upset you,&rdquo; Ethics Commission Executive Secretary David Emadi said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&ldquo;This was an extremely complex case. It required an extensive investigation &mdash; probably the most complex investigation in ethics commission history,&rdquo; Emadi said. &ldquo;The length was unfortunate, but it was entirely due to the fault of the New Georgia Project attempting to elude accountability at every turn.&rdquo;<\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\"> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t<script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> \t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\"> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t<script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> \t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two political advocacy organizations established by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams were penalized by a state ethics board for not revealing millions in contributions and expenditures during Abrams&#8217; unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign. The Georgia State Ethics Commission announced on Wednesday that it reached a consent agreement with the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, resulting in a total fine of $300,000. This fine is reportedly the largest ever imposed by any state ethics commission related to an election and campaign finance case. The commission stated that this incident represents a significant violation of election laws in Georgia, emphasizing their commitment to holding violators accountable. Founded as a charity in 2013, the New Georgia Project aimed to engage voters, while its Action Fund focused on fundraising efforts. The groups were found guilty of 16 violations involving $4.2 million in contributions and $3.2 million in spending linked to the 2018 campaign, including unreported donations and expenditures from previous years. Although Abrams stepped down as CEO in 2017 and claimed no involvement thereafter, much of the funds raised supported her campaign efforts during that time; Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was CEO during this period but denied knowledge of any wrongdoing associated with his leadership role<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2391304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/abrams.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[41327,48627,34385],"class_list":["post-2391303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-activist-groups","tag-election-ethics","tag-stacey-abrams"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/abrams.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391303"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2391307,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391303\/revisions\/2391307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2391304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}