Georgia Republicans were thrown into turmoil yesterday when their two U.S. senators— David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler— surprisingly blasted general election oversight “failures” by another Republican: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The secretary of state pushed back and declined to leave his post– but pledged to keep investigating fraud allegations stemming from the Nov. 3 general election.
“The process of reporting results has been orderly and followed the law. Where there have been specific allegations of illegal voting, my office has dispatched investigators. We have put a monitor in at Fulton County… one of our longtime problem Democrat-run counties,” Raffensperger responded to the senators (who are backed by President Donald Trump).
Loeffler and Perdue, who have been forced into a Jan. 5th runoff against Democratic opponents, are upset with Raffensperger’s slowness and lack of cooperation in challenging everything from ineligible ballots to “double voting.” Multiple state GOP sources tell InsiderAdvantage that the frustrated senators, by attacking Raffensperger, are attempting to energize conservatives upset over Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden – who led Trump in Georgia by over 11,500 votes late Monday. Gov. Brian Kemp, who for about a week has been quiet over the Trump loss and the allegations of voter fraud, is being urged to intervene and “referee” the feud– although as this is written there is no indication he is doing so.
Raffensperger said yesterday that illegal voting is going on. But he added: “Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? That is unlikely.” And that’s not what the White House and GOP lawyers challenging election results in Georgia and other states want to hear.
In the aftermath of the turmoil created, GOP sources tell InsiderAdvantage that some sort of joint “unity statement” by the two senators, Kemp, GOP U.S. Rep. Doug Collins and Trump is necessary to pivot from the flap and concentrate on messaging to voters as to why Loeffler and Perdue deserve re-election. A Georgia appearance by Trump at a “unity” rally featuring the president could also be contemplated, according to these insiders.
Leading Georgia Democrats, naturally, are pleased about the rift and hope it lingers.
