Chamblee54

News came out that the New Georgia Project had settled an ethics complaint with the State of Georgia. NGP, the signature non-profit creation of Stacey Abrams, was accused of spending millions of dollars supporting her run for Governor in 2018. This is not surprising to people that have been paying attention to @staceyabrams.
“Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2014 as an offshoot of another nonprofit called Third Sector Development. … Raphael Warnock chaired the organization for more than two years, from when it first became an independent 501(c)3 in 2017 to January of 2020.”
Chamblee54 wrote two posts about the problems with NGP. 112118 102622 These articles are based on a 2015 story in Creative Loafing, The New Georgia Problem. When Ms. Abrams emerged in 2018 as a Gubernatorial candidate/media sensation, her work with NGP was usually mentioned. It turns out that NGP had a LOT of problems. To be fair, Ms. Abrams was mostly a fundraiser. She had little to do with the day to day operations of NGP.
Atlanta Magazine also ran a 2015 story about the problems at NGP. “William Perry, founder of Georgia Ethics Watchdog, believes the lawmaker should make her financial records from her voter registration work public, especially now that more than a year has passed since the 2014 election. One issue that concerns Perry is the lawmaker’s potential ability to use different funding sources—which include a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a 501(c)(4) advocacy group, a political PAC, and personal campaign funds—to further the cause of voting registration.
Apparently, the money goes both ways here. Just as money intended for political campaigns can go for voter registration, money intended for voter registration can be diverted to promote a candidate. In the words of William Perry, “It gives cause to worry when there’s someone stirring so many pots. In a perfect world, anything you’re doing that would influence a campaign or an election should be disclosed. It’s a glaring example of what makes people sick about politics.”
Atlanta Magazine had another amusing item in 2015. “Nsé Ufot, executive director for New Georgia Project, declined to share a copy of Third Sector Development’s latest financial records. “Our 990 [form] will be publicly available in the coming months,” she told us in an email. When asked about her latest fundraising effort, Abrams declined to comment.”
Ms. Ufot was mentioned in 2023. “The move comes as the group’s tax filings indicate that its former executive director — who was hand-picked by Abrams in 2014 but fired last year without notice — owes the organization thousands of dollars in “non-work-related” reimbursements. The former director, Nsé Ufot, who left the group last year after heading it for eight years, denies owing money and calls the allegation “a fucking lie.”
In 2018, Voter Suppression® … and implied racism … was the central issue of the Abrams campaign. In the earlier investigation of NGP, spokesman Raphael Warnock was eager to cry racism. ”Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at First Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a spokesperson for NGP, said that many people of color in Georgia saw the tactics as part of a long history of voter suppression. “This narrative of voter suppression is one that communities of color understand and understand deeply, and it will backfire on those trying to suppress votes.”
“But there is an aggressive subpoena that, Abrams says, “essentially demands every document we have ever produced.” She calls it a “fishing expedition” meant to “suppress our efforts.” A spokesperson for the New Georgia Project, the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, was a little more explicit. “I see this move by the secretary of state as the latest effort in voter suppression in the state of Georgia.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Martha McMillan Roberts took the featured photograph in March 1941. “Good Humor man comes to trailer camp on Saturday afternoon. These children are sons of torpedo plant workers in Alexandria VA”