A charity led by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) in 2018 illegally campaigned in support of Democrat Stacey Abrams's failed Georgia gubernatorial campaign that year, the group admitted before state authorities on Wednesday.
Warnock was the chairman of the New Georgia Project when the charity and its affiliated dark-money group engaged in a full-bore effort to elect Abrams in 2018, the groups admitted during a hearing Wednesday. The charity, which Abrams founded in 2014 and from which she stepped away just before running for governor, effectively operated as an arm of her campaign that year, managing at least 10 field offices across the state to engage in direct voter contact in support of Abrams, said David Emadi, the executive director of Georgia's ethics commission.
The New Georgia Project, which Abrams founded in 2014, racked up a hefty $3.2 million bill campaigning for the Democrat's failed 2018 campaign, spending that it didn't report to the state, as required by Georgia law. The charity admitted to violating 16 state laws when it was under Warnock's leadership and agreed to pay a $300,000 fine, according to a consent order released Wednesday.
"This $300,000 certainly represents the largest fine ever imposed in Georgia's ethics commission, but it also appears to be the largest ethics fine we've seen by any state ethics commission in the country related to an election or campaign finance issue," Emadi said during the hearing. "This clearly represents the largest and most significant instance of an organization illegally influencing our elections in Georgia at a statewide level that we've ever uncovered."
New Georgia Project attorney David Fox said during Wednesday's hearing that the charity mostly agrees with the findings.
"The matter relates to events from more than five years ago, and the respondents are eager to put the matter behind them," Fox said. "At a fundamental level, the respondents understand and respect the commission's decisions on the facts and the law."
The admission from the Abrams-founded group that it illegally influenced the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election in her favor adds context to the Democrat's longstanding claims that the election was "rigged" and "stolen" from her. Abrams maintained those false claims through her failed 2022 rematch against Republican governor Brian Kemp.
Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland said the IRS should follow in Georgia's footsteps and set its sights on the New Georgia Project and Warnock. IRS regulations prohibit charities from engaging in political campaigns in the manner that the New Georgia Project admitted to doing in 2018 under Warnock's leadership.
"Stacey Abrams's nonprofit finally admitted what they've been accused of for years: They used charitable dollars to aid her failed gubernatorial campaign," Sutherland told the Washington Free Beacon. "While this $300,000 state violation is a great first step, New Georgia Project should also be investigated on the federal level, which would help determine the extent of Senator Warnock's involvement while he led the organization."
Abrams in 2017 handed the reins of the New Georgia Project over to Warnock, who served as the charity's chairman through 2019. He left the group just before launching his first Senate campaign in early 2020.
Nonprofit tax filings indicate that the New Georgia Project's work to elect Abrams in 2018 was its primary focus that year under Warnock's leadership. The project and an affiliate spent a combined $3.3 million in 2018, a figure nearly identical to the $3.2 million bill the groups incurred campaigning for Abrams that year in violation of state law.
But Warnock claimed ignorance of the violations on Wednesday. A spokesman, Michael Brewer, told ABC News that Warnock had no knowledge of the matter. Brewer said that Warnock was "a longtime champion for voting rights" and that "compliance decisions were not a part of that work."
Sutherland said Warnock's statement doesn't pass the smell test.
"As the Executive Director of a 501(c)(3) who relies on a team of accountants and attorneys to ensure compliance, it is ultimately my responsibility and duty to never use nonprofit dollars for politics," Sutherland said. "The buck stops with leadership."
Abrams on Wednesday also distanced herself from the New Georgia Project. "Stacey hasn't been involved in the organization's work since she departed in 2017," her spokesman told the New York Times.
Warnock's office and the New Georgia Project did not return requests for comment.