Stacey Abrams Hit With Subpoena in Alleged Campaign Finance Violations Saga: 'No one is above the law'

Georgia Republicans are not letting this one go. The Senate is escalating its probe into alleged campaign finance violations linked to Stacey Abrams' voter outreach outfit, with a key lawmaker promising to "follow the facts wherever they lead." Subpoenas have now gone out to Abrams and other central players.

The Senate Special Committee on Investigations announced Monday that Abrams, along with New Georgia Project leaders Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot, must show up at the State Capitol at 10 a.m. Friday.

"This committee has a responsibility to follow the facts wherever they lead," said Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal, the committee’s vice chairman. "Georgia law requires transparency and accountability in our elections."

The subpoenas flow directly from the Georgia State Ethics Commission’s findings that the New Georgia Project and its affiliated Action Fund broke campaign finance rules during the 2018 election cycle.

The groups admitted to 16 violations earlier this year and agreed to pay a $300,000 fine, the largest campaign finance penalty in Georgia history.

New Georgia Project shut down and dissolved in 2025 amid growing financial and legal problems.

Republican lawmakers made clear in their press release that the investigation aims to identify who called the shots on the violations, how the money was handled, and exactly who knew what was going on.

"The people of Georgia deserve to know who was involved, what decisions were made and how millions of dollars flowed through organizations that admitted to violating our campaign finance laws," Dolezal said.

Georgia's Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones added in the release, "No one is above the law in Georgia."

He added: "When organizations secretly spend millions to influence elections while evading disclosure requirements, it undermines confidence in our democratic process. The Senate will continue pursuing the truth and ensuring accountability, regardless of political party or influence."

The lawmakers noted that more hearings and witness testimony are coming in the weeks ahead.Abrams, the two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee in battleground Georgia, ruled out another run for governor earlier this year. Instead, she said she’ll focus on battling what she calls the nation’s slide toward authoritarianism under President Trump.

Abrams, a former Democratic Party leader in the Georgia state legislature and a nationally known voting-rights advocate, narrowly lost to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She lost her 2022 rematch with Kemp by nearly eight points.

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Court rules that GA lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to Trump case

A Georgia judge has ruled that state lawmakers can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as part of an inquiry regarding whether she engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump.

In his Dec. 23 order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram gave Willis until Jan. 13 to file a list of claimed privileges and objections to anything that has been subpoenaed.

Willis plans to appeal the decision. "We believe the ruling is wrong and will appeal," former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Willis in the case, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Earlier this month, an appeals court removed Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others, citing an "appearance of impropriety." The panel also cited the romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

"This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings," the court said.

At the time, Trump called the case a "disgrace to justice." "It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump," he said, "They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips."

In August, the Republican-led Senate committee sent subpoenas to Willis seeking to compel her to testify in September. She skipped a hearing that month when lawmakers hoped to question her.

The committee was formed to examine misconduct allegations against Willis during her prosecution of Trump over efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.

Barnes, Willis’ attorney, argued the subpoenas were overly broad and not related to a legitimate legislative need and that the Senate committee didn't have the power to subpoena her in the first place.

One issue raised is that the Georgia legislative term will end when lawmakers are sworn in for their new term on Jan. 13. Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal said last week that he plans to file legislation to re-establish the committee at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.

"The law is clear, and the ruling confirms what we knew all along," Dolezal wrote in a text Friday. "Judge Ingram rejected every argument made by Willis in her attempt to dodge providing testimony to the committee under oath. I look forward to D.A. Willis honoring the subpoena and providing documents and testimony to our committee."

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