The Call for a Special Session: An Explanation from Senator Colton Moore and Thoughts from Citizens

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

As many readers are aware, Senator Colton Moore has called for a special session to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis following the Georgia indictment of 19 individuals, including former President Donald Trump. In a phone conversation with the Sentinel, (printed nearly in full in this article), Moore explained his position. The Sentinel then spoke with several Dade County residents who have varying perspectives on the matter.

Moore said, “Fani Willis is a rogue district attorney who is receiving taxpayer dollars from citizens of Georgia. As I go around the community and ask anyone I know if they feel like their tax dollars should be funding Fani Willis, the overwhelming answer is no. I’m a part-time legislator. I work in Trenton and Lookout Mountain. I’m at the gas station; I talk to people; people have come up to me in restaurants and said, ‘Colton, what are we doing about this Trump indictment?’ This is a political attack on the republic of Georgia. I consider District Attorney Fani Willis to be a domestic threat to the constitution.”

Regarding the 2020 election, Moore said, “It took 19 days to certify the election results in Georgia. Why? Because people had legitimate concerns of fraud. Think about how many affidavits were signed across the state.”

Moore explained that he believes the recent indictments are unconstitutional, saying, “These 19 people were questioning the integrity of the election. They were using their First Amendment rights to do that. In some instances, the only evidence against those indicted is merely a Tweet. The charges that have been brought against them are novel charges. [Willis] got them on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges as if they’re a mafia, as if they were conspiring to overthrow the government. Meanwhile, that’s exactly what she’s doing here in the state.”

He continued, “Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones was able to prove to a judge–because he was going to be number 20 indicted–that [Willis] was holding a fundraiser for his political opponent. The evidence against him was that he called for a special session. That’s no crime.”

Moore explained why he describes Willis’ actions as “taking political prisoners,” saying, “A fellow senator has been indicted, and there’s another senator that could be coming in the second round of indictments. In her attack on her political opponents, she’s undermining the authority of the very republic itself by potentially suspending senators from their duties.”

Moore also perceives there to be a lack of attention to issues in the Fulton County Jail and other criminal investigations in Fulton County. He said, “In the meantime, in [Willis’s] own county, the American Civil Liberties Union is reporting that half of the inmates in that jail have yet to be charged with a crime. Young Thug and Young Stoner Life are also on RICO charges. They have yet to pick a jury, and they’ve been in the court for a year now.”

The rapper Young Thug and Young Stoner Life Records, which is also being referred to as a street organization, are charged with multiple gang-related RICO charges.

Moore continued, “Fulton County is considering a $2 billion expenditure to build a new jail because their jail is overcrowded, and her office can’t seem to charge and handle the cases. Fulton County crime rates are going sky high with about a 60 percent increase in burglaries to my understanding, and I think a 40 percent increase in homicides.”

The Sentinel was unable to quickly confirm these statistics, with online sources reporting various statistics lower than 60 and 40 percent.

Moore continued, “Her job is not being done in a proper way, and she’s using her authority to subvert the constitution. I don’t think she believes in the constitution. There are Eighth Amendment violations going on in her jail. She says her sole focus is taking down these 19 in the next six months, and she has planned certain dates at very key times in the next election cycle.”

Regarding his role as a senator, Moore explained, “We as a legislature have the authority to put a check and a balance on her. The constitution gives the legislature the right to oversee and provide oversight to judicial and executive officers in the state. The legislative branch also has the power of the purse. We decide what taxes are going to be, and we decide how tax dollars are spent. I am insisting that no more Georgia tax dollars go to fund Fani Willis.”

The Sentinel asked, “Regarding the Fulton County Jail, are you implying that Willis is not doing her job as a whole but instead focusing all of her effort on political opponents?” to which Moore replied, “That’s exactly what I’m implying. She needs to provide justice for her people, and she should not be using her government authority and taxpayer monies to take political prisoners of her opposing party when they were simply expressing their First Amendment rights to question the integrity of the election.”

Moore is concerned about the precedent these indictments set for the future of America. “This is not about Donald Trump; this is bigger than Donald Trump. The actions she is taking are setting a precedent in this country that is extremely dangerous, when elected officials have to worry that whatever action they take as elected officials could potentially hold them [prisoner to] the court.”

Governor Brian Kemp has said that he won’t call the special session. Therefore, Moore will need signatures from three-fifths of both the Georgia State Senate and Georgia House of Representatives. He said, “I am going to push for that to happen up until regular session starts in January. When I got elected, I told my constituents I would fight for them tooth and nail. [Legislators] can either sign the letter and stand with the rule of law or not sign the letter and let this rogue district attorney continue about her business. The problem here is that some legislators are too afraid to speak out; others refuse to speak out.”

Moore encourages citizens to contact their legislators, personally stating, “I am extremely disappointed with Representative Mike Cameron, my state representative, who has yet to sign the letter.”

As printed in the Sentinel two weeks ago, the Dade County Democratic Committee condemns Moore’s call for a special session. Tom McMahan, chair of the committee, offered his thoughts on the matter, saying, “The thing that struck me first was that Colton was instantly raising money. He issued a statement in one Tweet, and the second Tweet was about money. It seemed like a publicity stunt.”

McMahan’s second point was directed to people on all political sides. “Have you read the indictment? If so, what is it about the charges that strike you as being something to impeach somebody? I never hear specific complaints from Colton and Republicans. I just hear general ‘I don’t like it’ statements. Big supporters of Trump feel like Trump is somehow being picked on and that this is all political. They never actually say if the charges are true or not or if the process that’s being followed is legitimate or not. [Willis] went to a grand jury, and the grand jury gave up the indictment. The DA can’t do that all by herself.”

He continued, “Colton pushed this out with apparently no support from other Republicans. That’s not how a legislator should operate. You go to people, you talk to them, you get their support first. If there’s this big overwhelming push for this, why’s he out there all by himself? It’s like everything’s a grand theater spectacle, but there’s no real substance to it. Politicians of all kinds do that, but I think that’s a special thing these days on the far right.”

The Sentinel asked McMahan for his response to Moore’s statements about other Republicans being too afraid to speak out. McMahan asked, “Since when has any Republican in this state been bullied by a liberal, unless you’re in, say, the Metro Atlanta area where you might be afraid of losing support? That doesn’t strike me as a plausible argument at all. If there’s any fear being pushed, it’s going to be from Trump more than anybody. The fear to me is that they would sign onto it just to please the Trump and far right crowd.”

The Sentinel mentioned Moore’s concern about individuals being indicted simply for a Tweet, to which McMahan replied, “The Georgia indictment has nothing to do with any kind of freedom of speech issue. It’s a criminal enterprise that’s being charged. [Executing a] crime has to involve speech of some kind, so the First Amendment does not protect anyone from that.”

He gave the example of a man saying that he was thinking about robbing a bank as opposed to two people communicating with each other in order to carry out a heist. With the latter falling under conspiracy charges, the involved individuals would not be protected by the First Amendment.

Concerning the Fulton County Jail, McMahan said, “I think there are definitely problems with the jail. They’re under federal investigation right now. I don’t know how much of that is the DA’s responsibility. I don’t think too many people were concerned about it as long as it was poor people and black people in there.”

McMahan encourages people to trust America’s legal system, saying, “As with any other trial, let the process play out. Trump’s been charged, he’s got lawyers, let the prosecutors do their thing, and his defense can do their thing. He’s got 91 felony charges against him in four separate cases. I would just say, do you really think all of that was made up?”

McMahan noted that (seemingly antithetical to his beliefs about this situation) he did not sign onto last year’s challenge to Marjorie Taylor Greene regarding the 14th amendment because he didn’t think it was a good argument. He expanded, “We’ve seen Trump supporters on these grand juries vote to indict, and we’ll see people on the left who may vote not guilty. I think that when the jurors get in the box, they take it seriously.”

Another citizen, David Young, does not think a special session will be called, but he sees Willis’ actions as overreaching. The part-time Dade/part-time Chattanooga resident and former Dade County commissioner said, “I think the whole prosecution should be left to the federal level.”

He also asked, “Why didn’t [Willis] prosecute Stacey Abrams for not conceding to the 2018 election? Why did she go after Donald Trump but not Abrams?” After losing to Kemp in 2018, Abrams made statements about recognizing that Kemp had won while simultaneously not conceding to the election.

Young continued, “When somebody asks about ballots, are they now part of this conspiracy? I think it’s all political posturing.”

When asked if he perceives Moore to be fighting fire with fire, Young replied, “I think so. He has a way of getting his message across. He did bring some stuff to light, which I think is good.”

Lookout Mountain resident Rob Jenks also believes that Moore’s call brought significant points to light. A lengthy conversation with Jenks about the current situation as well as how it fits into the broader history of American politics and government will be covered in next week’s paper.

The Sentinel reached out to several other residents but did not receive responses. McMahan contacted the rest of the Democratic Committee on behalf of the Sentinel, but others were either occupied or uninterested in offering their perspectives.

On August 31, Moore released a statement countering Kemp’s claim that the Georgia legislature does not have the power to call an emergency session. The statement reads, “Governor Brian Kemp is not being honest with the people of Georgia. He is allowing his disdain for President Trump to cloud his judgment. I encourage him to take a deep breath and read the Georgia Constitution. Specifically, section two, paragraph seven which outlines his clear power to call an emergency session.”