The Georgia Senate is pulling Stacey Abrams back into the spotlight. A Senate committee investigating her 2018 gubernatorial campaign issued subpoenas Wednesday to Abrams and several allies, demanding documents and testimony related to allegations she made about voter suppression after losing to Brian Kemp.
WABE and Georgia Recorder both reported the subpoenas target Abrams, Fair Fight Action, and individuals who worked on the 2018 campaign. The investigation centers on claims Abrams and her allies made that the election was stolen through voter roll purges, polling place closures, and other suppression tactics. Republican committee members say Abrams never provided evidence for her most serious claims and that the investigation is about holding public figures accountable for statements that undermine confidence in elections.
Democrats see it differently. Abrams' camp called the subpoenas political retaliation, noting the timing coincides with the special session on redistricting and the nonpartisan elections bill that targets Black prosecutors. Georgia Recorder reported that the committee's focus on Abrams, who has not held elected office and is not currently running for anything, raises questions about the investigation's real purpose.
For Atlanta voters who watched the 2018 race and its aftermath, the subpoenas reopen a chapter many thought was closed. Abrams has maintained that Kemp's actions as Secretary of State, overseeing an election in which he was a candidate, tainted the result. The Senate investigation appears aimed at forcing her to either prove those claims under oath or retract them publicly. The subpoenas set a June deadline for compliance.
