Will Georgia Republicans Investigate Fulton D.A. Fani Willis?
So it seems Republicans everywhere want to investigate and potentially sanction Fulton D.A. Fani Willis — except Republican elected officials under the Gold Dome in Atlanta! GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) received accolades for his call for a special session investigating her from former President Donald Trump in a video as he undergoes political harassment from her trial:
Meanwhile, even Republicans in Congress are looking into ways to investigate Willis and possibly bring federal sanctions against her. Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-District 9) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-14) have been among the advocates for this move. Even U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan from Ohio agrees. State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee) also joined with Senator Moore in calling for a special legislative session, and other legislators are adding their names to the call.
But the automaton “Republican” legislators at the state capitol who love reciting the talking-points handed down to them from Governor Brian Kemp and Speaker Jon Burns‘ office, keep insisting that they “don’t have the numbers to impeach Fani Willis” and the new “Prosecutorial Oversight Commission” should be the group that investigates and possibly sanctions Willis. One legislator even told a constituent that “sometimes you just have to kiss the ring!” This passing of the buck has several problems with it—not the least of which is that it is likely unconstitutional.
Yet in a recent NewsMax interview that included attorney and GRA President Alex Johnson, State Senator Clint Dixon (R-Buford) insisted on this very process being the only way. Alex said in the interview that Senator Moore’s proposal would be a legitimate legal approach, but the legislator disagreed, citing incorrect numbers on the threshold needed to effect a special session and to impeach or remove from office.
This newly-created commission is not even scheduled to meet until mid-October, and it currently does not have standards in place for evaluating prosecutors. More problematic, though, is that this commission is composed of an unelected bureaucracy. One cannot circumvent the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority from elected legislators by delegating that power to a non-elected body operating within a simple-majority. If the commission were to actually implement removal from office of an elected prosecutor, that would no doubt be challenged as a violation of the state constitution, and it would probably take years for the suit to be resolved.
Contrary to Senator Dixon’s claims, the state constitution does not require a “three-fourths majority vote of both chambers to impeach.” It does not even require impeachment by a two-thirds majority. Under Article III, Section VII of the Georgia State Constitution, the only requirement involving a two-thirds majority is for the State Senate vote to remove from office after the State House has voted by a simple majority to impeach. An “impeachment” operates effectively as an indictment. Here is the actual text of the state constitution on the procedure:
Republicans in the State House already have the simple majority necessary to impeach, if such a move proves necessary after an investigation. So claims that Republicans “don’t have the numbers for impeachment” is just a flat out lie.
Whether two-thirds of the State Senators find it necessary to follow up such an impeachment with removal from office, will depend entirely on what the hearings and investigations by the legislature may uncover. But the cowardly Republican state legislators don’t even want to allow for the possibility that they could find sufficient evidence during that process to warrant removing Willis from office.
Allegedly “lacking the numbers” did not stop congressional Democrats under Nancy Pelosi from twice impeaching President Trump as an act of political harassment, and it should not stop Republicans from meting their political attacks with equivalent measures.
However, even if the new bureaucratic commission in October considered removal from office in lieu of the legislature, Governor Brian Kemp has already declared that he would not approve that outcome.
Other possible sanctions that would require less than a two-thirds majority vote of the state legislature include such options Senator Moore has listed as de-funding her Fulton County operation. Again, the RINOs in the legislature claim this cannot be done. But the Fulton County Commission appears to be taking these possibilities seriously. They have drafted a resolution being brought up at a meeting later this week begging both the federal government and the state government not to withhold funding from the Fulton D.A.’s office. Why would they do this if withholding funding was not possible?
Today the ultra-statist liberal newspaper The AJC put out a piece suggesting that other Republicans in the legislature should impeach and remove Senator Colton Moore from office for pressuring them to do the right thing so publicly. This is an ironic proposal considering how The AJC and Establishment Republicans of Atlanta have previously characterized the GRA as “just wanting to purge”out anyone who disagreed with them. Guess they don’t really have any problem with “purgings” within the GOP after all. But should we be surprised since they were already sitting on their hands letting Democrats purge leaders like Donald Trump?
It should serve as notice to real Republicans everywhere that when the far left media starts praising certain “Republican” politicians, they are on the wrong side of the issue.
If RINOs in the legislature actually were to bring sanctions against Senator Moore, they shouldn’t be surprised if the GA GOP responds with a vote to block many of them from re-qualifying to run in the Republican primary next year. Since the GA GOP has not yet voted to adopt the proposed Accountability Rule, constitutionally the organization’s Executive Committee has the power protected under the First Amendment to vote by simple-majority to disassociate with any incumbent.
The GA GOP’s Executive Committee has 28 members, so only 15 members would need to vote in favor of blocking any incumbent from qualifying to run as a Republican again next year. Newly elected non-Establishment members on that committee such as Brian Pritchard, David Cross, Salleigh Grubbs, Suzi Volyes, and Caroline Jeffords could lead this effort, and they have plenty of other reasons to be upset with incumbent Republican legislators given the resistance they have shown to considering serious election integrity reform. Even Immediate Past Chairman David Shafer may be open to considering this move since he is one of the alternate electors being harassed by Fani Willis in this trumped-up indictment.
Regardless of the push-back, Senator Colton Moore, State Rep. Charlice Byrd, and the rest of the Georgia Freedom Caucus are moving forward with a scheduled press conference and rally over this issue at the state capitol on Thursday, September 7th at noon. Show up at that event and/or donate to support these brave Republican legislators!