Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 17, 2021

On March 17, 1762, the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in New York City by Irish serving in the British army; the date commemorates the death of St. Patrick in 461. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in Savannah, Georgia was held in 1813.

On March 17, 1866, Governor Charles Jones Jenkins signed legislation granting African-Americans the same rights as whites for contracts, suits, inheritance, property, and punishments for violation of the law.

On March 17, 1933, Governor Eugene Talmadge signed a joint resolution of the state legislature to place a plaque on the wall of the Georgia Capitol commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the founding of Georgia.

On March 17, 1943, Governor Ellis Arnall signed legislation creating a commission to revise the 1877 Constitution of Georgia.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome – Legislative Day 35

8:00 AM Senate Ethics – 307 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES – 506 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE INSURANCE – 606 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS – 406 CLOB
9:00 AM HOUSE RULES – 341 CAP
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session – Senate Chamber
10:00 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD34) – House Chamber
Noonish Senate Rules Upon Adjournment – 450 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Health and Human Services – 450 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Natural Resources and Environment – 307 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE Ways and Means Public Finance and Policy Sub – 403 CAP
1:00 PM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION – 606 CLOB
1:00 PM CANCELLED – HOUSE Ways and Means Sales Tax Sub – 403 CAP
1:30 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY – 132 CAP
1:30 PM CANCELLED – HOUSE Ways and Means Tax Revision Special Sub – 403 CAP
1:30 PM HOUSE Energy, Utilities and Telecoms Facility Safety Special Sub – 515 CLOB
1:45 PM CANCELLED – HOUSE Ways and Means Ad Valorem Tax Sub – 403 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE HUMAN RELATIONS AND AGING – 341 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS – 406 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE CODE REVISION – 415 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE TRANSPORTATION – 506 CLOB
2:00 PM CANCELLED – HOUSE Ways and Means Income Tax Sub – 403 CAP
2:15 PM Senate Education and Youth – 307 CLOB
2:15 PM Senate Retirement – 450 CAP
3:00 PM HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ELECTION INTEGRITY – 606 CLOB
3:00 PM HOUSE INDUSTRY AND LABOR – 506 CLOB
3:30 PM Senate Economic Development and Tourism – 307 CLOB
3:30 PM Senate Finance – 450 CAP
3:30 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON CIVIL – 132 CAP
3:30 PM HOUSE Motor Vehicles Driver Safety and Services Sub – 515 CLOB
3:30 PM HOUSE Creative Arts and Entertainment Music and Live Performances Sub – 406 CLOB
4:45 PM Senate Judiciary – 307 CLOB

SENATE RULES CALENDAR

HB 208 – State holidays; second Wednesday of February of each year as National Swearing-in Day in Georgia; provide (VM&HS-53rd) Cheokas-138th

HB 63 – Alternative ad valorem tax; motor vehicles; revise definition of fair market value (FIN-51st) Blackmon-146th

HB 112 – Torts; provide certain immunities from liability claims regarding COVID-19; extend applicability for one year (JUDY-17th) Kelley-16th

HB 169 – Motor vehicles; commercial driver’s license; provide requirements for issuance (PUB SAF-56th) Corbett-174th

HB 207 – Motor vehicles; electronic submission of certain documentation required of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, secondary metals recyclers, used motor vehicle parts dealers, and scrap metal processors by the Department of Revenue; provide (Substitute)(PUB SAF-56th) Corbett-174th

HB 497 – Code Revision Commission; revise, modernize and correct errors or omissions (JUDY-17th) Efstration-104th

HB 693 – Motor vehicles; operation of farm tractors on interstate highways; prohibit (AG&CA-24th) Meeks-178th

HOUSE RULES CALENDAR

Modified Structured Rule

SB 43 – “Noncovered Eye Care Services Act”; enact (Substitute)(Ins-Gambill-15th) Brass-28th

SB 88 – Education; Georgia Teacher of the Year shall be invited to serve as advisor ex officio to the State Board of Education; provide (Ed-LaRiccia-169th) Goodman-8th

SB 140 – Flag, Seal, and Other Symbols; placement of a monument in honor of the Honorable Zell Bryan Miller upon the capitol grounds of the state capitol building; provide (SProp-Ralston-7th) Mullis-53rd

SB 182 – Counties and Municipal Corporations; “fence detection system”; define the term; counties, consolidated governments, and municipalities regulate or prohibit such system; limit the ability (GAff-Gullett-19th) Robertson-29th

Structured Rule

HB 703 – Bleckley County; probate judge; provide nonpartisan elections (IGC-Mathis-144th)HB 704Bleckley County; Magistrate Court chief judge; provide nonpartisan elections (IGC-Mathis-144th)

The Washington Post made news with a correction to its earlier story about then-President Donald Trump’s phone call to an investigator in the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. From WaPo:

On Jan. 9, The Post reported that then-President Donald Trump, in a call with Georgia’s lead elections investigator, Frances Watson, had instructed her to “find the fraud.” He mentioned that she could become a “national hero,” reported the newspaper.

In both cases, the quotes were wrong, as The Post has acknowledged in a correction to the story. “Trump did not tell the investigator to ‘find the fraud’ or say she would be ‘a national hero’ if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find ‘dishonesty’ there. He also told her that she had ‘the most important job in the country right now,’” reads the correction, in part.

On the recording, there was no “find the fraud.” But there was this: “If you can get to Fulton, you are going to find things that are going to be unbelievable — the dishonesty,” said Trump.

There was no “national hero.” But there was this: “When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised. … People will say, ‘Great.’ Because that’s what it’s about — that ability to check and to make it right,” Trump told Watson.

The Post’s account of the call rested on one source — “an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation.” Though that source wasn’t identified in the Jan. 9 story, The Post did identify her in its follow-up based on the Wall Street Journal scoop: “The Washington Post reported on the substance of Trump’s Dec. 23 call in January, describing him saying that Watson should ‘find the fraud’ and that she would be a ‘national hero,’ based on an account from Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, whom Watson briefed on his comments.”

In an interview with the Erik Wemple Blog, Fuchs said, “I believe the story accurately reflected the investigator’s interpretation of the call. The only mistake here was in the direct quotes, and they should have been more of a summary.” Fuchs said that The Post disclosed her role in the story with her permission, and that she’d gotten the debriefing from the investigator — a direct report of hers — “shortly” after the call from Trump concluded.

“I think it’s pretty absurd for anybody to suggest that the president wasn’t urging the investigator to ‘find the fraud,’” Fuchs added, “These are quotes that [Watson] told me at the time.”

From National Review:

There is, of course, a crucial difference between a president instructing an investigator to “find the fraud” so she can become “a national hero” and a president telling an investigator he believes she will find fraud if she looks. To contend that Trump was “misquoted” or that the quotes were “misattributed” is to critically understate the dishonesty in the original story. Indeed, it is fair to say that the quotes were fabricated by someone, not misattributed, and then they were published by every major news outlet in the country as a verified fact. Even the Post’s headline for its follow-up — “Recording reveals details of Trump call to Georgia’s chief elections investigator” — intimates that the tape merely helps in updating the initial reporting rather than completely decimating it.

The single anonymous source used for the story seems to be Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, whose office was under pressure from the president at time. Fuchs still claims that the story accurately portrayed the spirit of the conversation that was relayed to him, maybe by Watson. The tape tells a different story.

The only reason we know any of this, incidentally, is because a recording of the conversation was found in Watson’s trash folder on her device while responding to a public-records request. (Does it not seem peculiar that a state official would throw out an audio recording of the president allegedly berating her to overturn an election? It seems like the kind of audio one saves.) How many stories with this kind of flimsy or dishonest sourcing exist but will never be debunked?

From the AJC:

Georgia elections officials said their description of a much-scrutinized phone call between Donald Trump and a top investigator wasn’t meant to be presented as a “word-for-word transcript” after a recording of the call revealed the former president was misquoted.

Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that the office’s initial report about the conversation between Trump and Frances Watson, the chief investigator, relied on Watson’s recollection.

Here’s the full statement from Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs:

“The Secretary of State’s Office’s first report about its investigator’s phone conversation with President Trump relied on the investigator’s recollection. Information about the content of the call was never presented as a word-for-word transcript. After hearing the tape, it’s clear that her recollection accurately portrayed the president’s assertions that there was fraud to uncover and that she would receive praise for doing so.”

The bigger problem is that this undermines the credibility of everyone in the Secretary of State’s Office at a time when it is most important that they be unimpeachable. Expect this story to dominate for a while.