Hundreds gathered in Alpharetta yesterday afternoon, donning their classic red MAGA hats and waving political signs. It looked like a classic GOP “get out the vote” campaign event, but the main message was very different.
Lin Wood, a famed Atlanta anti-defamation lawyer who along with attorney Sidney Powell has taken the reins of the “Stop the Steal” movement to reject the presidential election results, slammed Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Wood leveled sharp accusations that they had even been bribed to help throw the November general election for Joe Biden— and dared them to sue him.
“I know about defamation law. Listen carefully Governor Kemp and Brad Raffensperger, I state as a matter of fact, you are criminals. You took money from Dominion (Georgia’s voting machine vendor) and China. I damn well bet you will never sue me, because the truth will prove I am right. Follow the money!”
What followed was a familiar chant at pro-Trump rallies, only now it was directed at a Republican governor who won his seat in 2018 on the back of a President Donald Trump endorsement. Cries of “Lock him up, lock him up” echoed through the crowd.
Wood’s accusation builds off a rising sentiment that Kemp and Raffensperger among Georgia’s Republican base that they have not done enough to defend President Trump from an unfair elections process.
Two state Senate subcommittees are meeting today, by the way, to examine the elections process. They may spur new calls to hold a special session of the General Assembly to enact election reforms, especially knocking down Raffensperger’s settlement with Democrats last March that changed mail-in ballot signature verification rules. Every speaker yesterday at the press conference-turned-rally demanded that the governor call a special session.
Lead Trump attorney Giuliani is also in Georgia this afternoon to appear before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee to discuss the ongoing lawsuits in Georgia and other states. Insiders will be watching to see if he ratchets up the heat to the levels that Wood did yesterday.
By the way, Wood didn’t let Georgia’s two U.S. senators off the hook either.
“You’re not going to fool Georgians again. If Kelly Loeffler wants your vote, if David Perdue wants your vote they’ve got to earn it. They have got to demand publicly, repeatedly, consistently– ‘Brian Kemp call a special session of the legislature.’ And if they do not do it, they have not earned your vote….”
Yet that rhetoric may be a bridge too far for GOP bigwigs, even ones upset with Kemp, who are busy urging voters to request absentee ballots and vote early ahead of the crucial January 5th runoff.
