ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 19: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Morehouse College Commencement as a faculty member stands and faces away from the stage in protest of the Israel-Hamas war on May 19, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. President Biden is appearing at the school during a time when pro-Palestinian demonstrations are still occurring on campuses across the country to protest Israel's war in Gaza. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and highlighted federal spending in historically Black colleges during Sunday’s speech before hundreds of Morehouse College graduates who represent a demographic Biden needs to win the Nov. 5 election.

Biden’s role as commencement speaker at the storied historically Black college in Atlanta had been met with concern from those who disagree with his handling of Israel’s military response to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, as well as from those who feared it would be a distraction from the graduates’ achievement.

Biden’s roughly 25-minute speech went uninterrupted and ended with Biden receiving an honorary degree from Morehouse as the crowd applauded.

“I’m not going home,” Biden quipped with a broad smile after receiving the honor.

But there were some visible signs of discontent on the campus, which is the alma mater of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and which has a long history of social activism. Off campus, well over 100 people, many of them students, gathered to protest Biden’s appearance, largely over his continued support of Israel.

Some graduates, including the college’s valedictorian who wore a small Palestinian flag pin on his stole, displayed some form of the Palestinian flag. A faculty member stood as Biden spoke and turned away with her fist in the air.

With Biden sitting nearby, valedictorian Deangelo Jeremiah Fletcher called for the release of all hostages and for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“It is only right for the class of 2024 to utilize any platform provided to stand in solidarity with peace and justice,” Fletcher said in his speech.

Biden clapped and then greeted Fletcher with a handshake as the graduate left the stage and later addressed the issue in his speech, saying there is a “humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” He renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire and said he is actively working to find a solution.

“It’s one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about it,” Biden said to the graduates. “I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.

“Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It’s about challenging anger, frustration, and heartbreak to find a solution. It’s about doing what you believe is right, even when it’s hard and lonely,” he said.

The speech at Morehouse happened as Biden continues to trail his GOP rival former President Donald Trump in the polls and amid concerns about waning enthusiasm for Biden among young Black voters, who are usually an important part of the Democratic base.

In a New York Times poll published earlier this month, 26% of voters between 18 and 29 said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, less than any other age group. Another 30% said they would vote for Trump, also less than any other age group.

Biden pledged to continue supporting HBCUs on Sunday, while touting that during his administration, the federal funding for HBCUs has eclipsed a record $16 billion. And he warned of the threats extremists pose to democracy.

“Extremists close the doors of opportunity, strike down affirmative action, attack the values of diversity, equality and inclusion,” he said.

“I never thought I’d be a president at a time when there’s a national effort to ban books. Not to write history, but to erase history. They don’t see you in the future of America, but they’re wrong. To me, we make history, not erase it. We know Black history is American history.”

Rasheed Canton, who graduated from Morehouse on Sunday, said Biden’s commencement speech and the protest calls were hard to ignore as the spring semester wound down. Canton, however, said he wasn’t surprised that Biden’s speech and the rest of the commencement ceremony went smoothly despite simmering tensions.

He said that Trump and Biden will try to spur young Black voters to the polls in November, whether through financial pledges or other promises of support.

“Biden will need to make up some ground heading into November, especially if the war remains at the forefront of minds,” the DeKalb County native said following Sunday’s ceremony. “I’ll still be supporting the Democratic presidential candidate, who I think best represents the values of myself, my Morehouse brothers and the Black community overall.”

Morehouse College released a statement following the graduation ceremony stating the administration was upholding the school’s tradition of supporting the rights of people to protest on behalf of social justice issues in a peaceful manner. The statement also applauded the federal funding for HBCUs and the president’s calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip.

“The world frequently quotes our most famous and beloved alumnus, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but the world must know that without Morehouse, there would be no Dr. King,” the statement said. “It is fitting that a moment of organized, peaceful activism would occur on our campus while the world is watching to continue a critical conversation. We are proud of the resilient class of 2024’s unity in silent protest, showing their intentionality in strategy, communication, and coordination as a 412-person unit.”

Protesters march outside Morehouse campus

While Morehouse commencement’s ceremony was underway, more than 100 demonstrators gathered at a nearby park before marching to Morehouse. Police officers on bicycles pedaled alongside the marchers and blocked them from entering the campus, but the protest remained peaceful.

Standing outside one of the school’s entrances, protesters banged drums and chanted slogans like “Free Palestine” and “Come November, we’ll remember.”

“I don’t like that he’s here,” said Morehouse junior Daxton Pettus. 

“I think it is horrible that he is here when he has committed atrocious acts against the Black community as far as mass incarceration and supporting bills that further that, atrocious acts as far as sending aid to Israel to aid in their war crimes, and atrocious acts against students, especially, Morehouse-Spelman students were already brutalized at the Emory occupation, and the school failed to say anything, but the president did, and what he said is that those students are violent and that the responses were adequate, and I think that’s inappropriate because that sort of language, it allows for us to be brutalized for those people’s voices to be suppressed.”

Many of the young marchers said Biden’s appearance smacks of election-year pandering for Black votes, which they said stings all the more because of Morehouse’s association with the Civil Rights Movement.

Andrea Richmond is immersed in the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the group of historic Black colleges in Atlanta that includes Morehouse, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University. Richmond graduated from Spelman in 2019 and has a brother who went to Morehouse and a sister who went to Clark Atlanta. Her mom worked at Morehouse for 25 years.

“I’ve grown up in the AUC,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of actions at the AUC. I’ve heard about the aura of the AUC, and I want the AUC to actually stand for what it talks about, which is not only the promotion of Black individuals, but also the promotion of all marginalized people.”

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.

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Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee presides in court, Friday, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta. The hearing is to determine whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the case because of a relationship with Nathan Wade, special prosecutor she hired in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz, Pool

A Fulton County, Georgia, judge ruled Friday that District Attorney Fani Willis and her whole office can either step aside from the 2020 election interference case or the special prosecutor who was involved in a romantic relationship with Willis can withdraw from the case.

“The Court therefore concludes that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the State selects one of two options,” Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his highly anticipated ruling Friday morning.

“The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council for reassignment … Alternatively, SADA (Nathan) Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case.”

By Friday afternoon, Wade had submitted his resignation, WSB-TV first reported.

Defense attorneys had claimed Willis gave her boyfriend Wade a lucrative contract funded by taxpayers to be the lead prosecutor in the election case. Wade spent thousands of dollars on the couple’s travel to take vacations together on cruises out of the country, weekend trips out of state and other expenses, according to credit card receipts that fueled a dramatic twist in the court case against Trump and his allies.

Willis and Wade testified at a hearing on Feb. 15 that their romantic relationship began several months after he was hired for the case and ended last summer. Willis testified under oath that she paid for her share of travel costs in cash.

Wade has been paid $700,000 since being appointed as special prosecutor in November 2021.

Friday’s 23-page ruling is in response to a motion filed in January by one of the lesser-known defendants, former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, who sought to have the indictment dismissed and the DA’s office disqualified from prosecuting the case.

The judge held a hearing in February that was nationally watched and featured surprise testimony from Willis, who offered a fiery defense of her actions.

But while McAfee ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove a conflict of interest, he said there is a “significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team.”

“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing,” McAfee wrote.

“Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices – even repeatedly – and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it.”

Willis’ office has not yet indicated how it will respond, but Trump’s lead defense counsel Steve Sadow issued a statement Friday morning expressing disappointment in the ruling.

“We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” Sadow said.

In August, a grand jury levied felony charges against Trump and 18 other allies on accusations that they illegally conspired to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. The former president as well as the remaining 14 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty, while four of the initial co-defendants have accepted plea agreements.

The outcome of the landmark case could factor into Willis’ bid for a second term as district attorney as she finds herself under a much brighter spotlight than when she won against Paul Howard in 2020.

Even with the judge’s ruling in Willis’ favor, the motion to dismiss has delayed the case by more than two months, complicating Willis’ attempt to start the trial by August, ahead of Trump’s expected rematch with Biden on Nov. 5.

Trump attorney, Steve Sadow, has indicated in an earlier court hearing that the defense attorneys plan to appeal if McAfee allowed Willis to remain on the case.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.

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WACO, TEXAS - MARCH 25: Former U.S. President Donald Trump applauds at the conclusion of a rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas. Former U.S. president Donald Trump attended and spoke at his first rally since announcing his 2024 presidential campaign. Today in Waco also marks the 30 year anniversary of the weeks deadly standoff involving Branch Davidians and federal law enforcement. 82 Davidians were killed, and four agents left dead. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea on Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court on 13 felony counts that charge him with racketeering for attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

In the court filing on Thursday, Trump also voluntarily waived his right to an arraignment hearing scheduled for Wednesday in which a judge was set to formally read the charges against the ex-president in open court. Additionally, Trump’s lawyers requested that his case be tried separately from that of his co-defendants who requested a speedy trial in the case being prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a broad law used to prosecute criminal organizations.

Former Trump lawyer and defendant Kenneth Chesebro’s trial is now scheduled for Oct. 23. Attorney Sidney Powell, who made appearances in Georgia after the 2020 election to spread false claims of widespread voter fraud, has also requested a speedy trial.

Trump’s newest lawyer Steven Sadow wrote in Thursday’s motion that allowing him only two months to prepare a defense would be unfair in a case involving 19 other defendants and 41 different criminal charges.

A grand jury on Aug. 14 indicted 19 defendants on multiple felony counts, including Trump and his former personal attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and several false electoral college voters, including freshman Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, a Norcross Republican, and David Shafer, a former Georgia Republican Party chairman and state legislator.

Trump has continued to complain that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is politically motivated,  accusing the elected-Democratic prosecutor of grandstanding and unfairly targeting him and his supporters for claiming the presidential election was rigged in Georgia and several other states.

Willis has defended her decisions in the case as an unbiased prosecution of concerted efforts to disrupt the election processes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and five other states.

According to the Fulton indictment, Trump and a number of other co-defendants were involved in a coordinated effort to appoint illegitimate Republican electors in Georgia to sign false Electoral College certificates in his favor to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state in 2020. The indictment also alleges Trump and others attempted to influence government officials to overturn election results that were confirmed by multiple recounts and by state and federal election and law enforcement agencies.

In the 98-page indictment, Fulton prosecutors also accuse Trump and supporters of spreading unfounded allegations of massive voter fraud, which led to a breach of the state’s electronic voting system in Coffee County in January 2021.

Election interference case to be live-streamed

A court order was filed by Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee on Thursday allowing the county’s YouTube channel to live stream the case’s hearings and trials.

A high-profile case against the leading Republican presidential candidate and a number of Trump’s allies is expected to attract a large number of viewers online in the coming weeks and months.

McAfee’s order also allows for the media to have electronic devices in the courtroom, such as cell phones and laptops as long as they are not used to record the proceedings. Those devices were banned from a federal courtroom where Meadows appeared earlier this week in a bid to move his case from Fulton County’s jurisdiction.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.

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Former President Donald Trump was booked and quickly released at the Fulton County Jail Thursday evening during a trip from New Jersey to Atlanta that played out on primetime TV and capped a drama-filled day outside the facility.

Trump’s sprawling motorcade arrived at the jail at about 7:30 p.m. And he was released after about 20 minutes on a $200,000 bond agreement that bars him from threatening or intimidating anyone involved in the case – including on social media where the former president is prolific.

He is accused of violating Georgia’s RICO Act and a litany of other charges tied to efforts to overturn the election in a state where he lost by nearly 12,000 votes.

The Fulton County indictment represents Trump’s fourth this year and the first where his mugshot was taken. He faces 13 charges in Georgia, where he is accused of working with his allies to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has dismissed the charges as politically motivated and claims he genuinely believed the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen. The former president, who is the front-runner in the GOP race to challenge President Joe Biden next year, called the indictments a form of “election interference.”

“We did nothing wrong at all, and we have every right – every single right – to challenge an election that we think is dishonest, and we think it’s very dishonest,” Trump said during brief remarks to some reporters outside the jail Thursday.

But he is accused of taking his challenge too far. The Fulton County indictment handed up by a grand jury last week alleges that Trump and 18 others were part of a “criminal organization” that tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election results through a fake elector plot.

Twelve of the 19 defendants have been booked this week, including the surrender of Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, earlier in the day Thursday. Trump’s former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, turned himself in Wednesday.

The remaining seven, including a state senator who served as an “alternate” elector, have until noon Friday to surrender.

Read the 98-page indictment here.

Georgia’s election results were confirmed three times, including one recount that was done by hand. A state-led investigation and multiple lawsuits also failed to turn up the widespread fraud Trump has long falsely claimed thwarted his bid for a second term. Trump’s own Attorney General in 2020 told the former president that he’d lost Georgia’s election and there was no evidence of fraud.

Thursday also brought a flurry of legal filings about the venue for some of the defendants and the pace of the trial.

A Georgia state judge has scheduled an Oct. 23 racketeering trial for Kenneth Chesebro, who was an attorney for the Trump campaign. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge, Scott McAfee, Thursday to schedule the trial for all 19 defendants on that date, an unexpectedly quick turnaround Willis proposed in response to Chesebro’s demand for a speedy trial.

McAfee ruled Thursday the trial date would only apply to Chesebro.

Chesebro is accused of violating Georgia’s RICO Act and committing other offenses as part of a scheme to appoint false electors. In Georgia he allegedly supplied the documents alternate GOP electors signed that said they appropriately cast the state’s 16 electoral ballots for Trump.

‘I have seen no real crime’

Outside the jail, Trump’s fans outnumbered his critics as his most ardent backers traveled from all over the country to line up along Rice Street in a show of support. A throng of reporters from all over the world gathered outside the county jail to observe the historic moment.

Many of Trump’s fans said the former president’s growing rap sheet – on top of two impeachment proceedings – is only making them more skeptical of the claims of his wrongdoing.

“Racketeering is about stealing money and stuff like that. That makes no sense,” said west Cobb County resident Jerry Ramsey, citing legal experts who have appeared on Fox News. “If you show me that some real crime was committed, then I might change my mind. But I have seen no real crime.”

Ramsey argues that Trump did what anyone else would do after coming up short in an election.

“Here in Georgia, he just called and said ‘Would y’all recount the vote?’ If I lost an election, I’d do the same thing,” he said.

Ray Worth, who lives in Carroll County, said he came out Thursday to “support freedom, the ability for us to speak freely.” He called Trump “an advocate for free speech.”

Worth said he doesn’t expect any evidence to come out that will convince him that Trump ran afoul of the law. He argues Trump was simply questioning the election results.

“You’re allowed to do that. This is a free country. It’s called freedom. You’re allowed to say what you feel is actually true. I believe what I feel is true, and he does too,” Worth said.

Trump’s brief jailhouse visit capped a long day filled with circus-like energy on an intensely hot August day. Some people were wearing costumes, including multiple “Uncle Sams” and some rats and a wolf that represented the anti-Trump crowd.

Several hours prior to the anticipated arrival of former President Trump, protesters were squaring off with dueling chants and shouting verbal jabs at one another. The sometimes-profane chants included calls to lock up Biden and Trump.

During the late afternoon, members of the Black Trump group were joined by self-proclaimed Mayor of Magaville rapper Forgiato Blow and others for an impromptu jam session featuring songs like Blow’s “Trump Saved the USA.”

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene showed up at the jail as Trump’s plane was landing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, fresh off her trip to Wisconsin to serve as a surrogate for Trump at the first GOP presidential debate that he snubbed.

Greene swapped out her profile on social media with a mock mugshot in a show of solidarity, she told Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative network. “I’m ashamed of Georgia,” Greene said in the friendly interview.

But it wasn’t all Trump supporters outside the county jail on Rice Street.

One anti-Trump group outside the jail on Thursday was the Republicans Against Trump, also known as RAT. Its members wore black and white striped prison jumpsuits and full rat costumes. Their leader, Domenic Santana, said they want to see Trump held accountable for attempting to disrupt Georgia’s election process.

Meanwhile, Nadine Seiler flew down this week from Maryland to witness the historic arrest of Trump.

One of the few anti-Trump demonstrators to show up Thursday led to testy verbal confrontations with Trump supporters as she carried a banner proclaiming “Finally, Trump Arrested.”

“He tried to steal the vote of Black and brown people,” Seiler said. “That’s why he’s here because he tried to disenfranchise Black and brown voters.”

Georgia Recorder Editor John McCosh contributed to this report. 

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.

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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (R) listens prior to Trump's Marine One departure from the South Lawn of the White House July 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump is traveling to visit the Double Eagle Energy oil rig in Midland, Texas, and will attend a fundraising luncheon for the Republican Party and his reelection campaign. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump and several members of his inner circle were indicted Monday in Fulton County’s sweeping investigation into 2020 election interference.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis held a press conference late Monday night to briefly discuss the grand jury’s felony conspiracy and racketeering charges being levied against the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner and other allies that include his former chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and ex-Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer.

Nineteen people were indicted on 41 charges after the grand jury’s vote to hand up indictments and Fulton Judge Robert McBurney’s unsealing of the charges Monday evening.

“All elections in our nation are administered by the states, which are given the responsibility of ensuring a fair process and an accurate counting of the votes,” Willis said late Monday evening. “That includes elections for presidential electors, Congress state officials and local offices. The state’s role in this process is essential to the functioning of our democracy.”

“The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Willis said.

It is the fourth time the former president has been indicted this year, and it is the second indictment directly tied to Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing his bid for reelection.

The defendants will have until noon on Friday, Aug. 25 to turn themselves in, Willis said.

Read the 98-page indictment here.

“I remind everyone here that an indictment is only a series of allegations based on a grand jury determination of probable cause to support the charges. It is now the duty of my office to prove these charges in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” Willis said.

Willis said she plans to push for a trial to be held within the next six months, but acknowledged that will be up to the judge.

Felony charges of false statements, forgery, racketeering and election fraud, solicitation of a government employee have also been filed against in the case that’s been more than a year in the making.

The sweeping probe centers on Trump and a number of his supporters who lodged unfounded claims that widespread election fraud cost him the 2020 election in Georgia by nearly 12,000 votes. In early 2022, Willis launched the investigation after a recording of a phone call where Trump asked Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes was released to the public.

Willis, an Atlanta Democrat, has been accused of political bias by Trump and his attorneys who argue she has held fundraisers for candidates of her party in the past.

And on Monday, Reuters reported that a document outlining charges against Trump appeared briefly on the Fulton County court’s website. A Fulton County courts spokesperson issued a statement Monday in response to a “fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets.” 

Trump’s Georgia-based attorneys blasted the brief appearance of the document in a statement, calling it part of a pattern that has “plagued this case from its very inception.”

“This was not a simple administrative mistake,” Drew Findling and Jennifer Little said in a joint statement. “A proposed indictment should only be in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office, yet it somehow made its way to the clerk’s office and was assigned a case number and a judge before the grand jury even deliberated.”

Trump also took to his social media site, Truth Social, to bemoan the indictment, calling Willis a “rabid partisan” and accusing her of timing the indictment to “maximally interfere” in next year’s presidential race. Willis brushed off the criticism when asked about the president’s comments.

“I make decisions in this office based on the facts and the law. The law is completely nonpartisan,” Willis said.

The group of 16 fake electors who met at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 includes current and former state and local GOP officials, ex-Coffee County GOP Chairwoman Cathy Latham, and newly elected state Sen. Shawn Still.

Giuliani pressed Georgia Republicans to set themselves up as alternate electors to counter state Democrat electors casting votes for Joe Biden after GOP election officials confirmed the current president as the winner of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. The plan at first was for the “fake electors” to serve as a placeholder should the former president prevail in court challenges to Georgia’s results. But when Trump’s court challenges were all either dismissed or withdrawn, the alternate electors still signed paperwork swearing they were legitimate delegates.

An eventful day 

Even before the prospect of a Monday grand jury decision, a throng of national and local press had assembled outside the Fulton County courthouse Monday morning where they tried to catch the witnesses as they left to quiz them on the process.

The relative calm outside the courthouse was disrupted at one point Monday when opponents of a controversial public safety training center attempted to march through the area around the courthouse that has been closed off for the indictments. Among the group’s chants: “Donald Trump. Andre Dickens. I don’t know the f—— difference.”

But inside the courthouse the grand jury proceeding moved at a faster pace than expected, and by late Monday afternoon, an indictment seemed possible. At least two witnesses – former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Atlanta journalist George Chidi – who were originally set to testify Tuesday were moved up to Monday.

Duncan, who did not seek reelection last year, brushed aside specific questions about his grand jury testimony Monday but he spoke generally about how he viewed his participation in the process. And politically, he described this moment in time as a potential “pivot point” for Republicans.

“I think it’s important to tell the truth,” Duncan told reporters afterwards. “And to respond to the constitutional duties of answering the questions of the grand jury. It’s important for us as a country to finally figure out exactly what happened, and let Americans decide. Instead of misinformation and tweets, let America decide what’s next for us.”

Other witnesses include state Sen. Jen Jordan and state Rep. Bee Nguyen, two Democrats who were part of the December 2020 legislative meetings where Rudy Giuliani pushed a false narrative in hopes of getting the General Assembly to intervene.

Nguyen confirmed in a statement Monday that she had testified before the grand jury.

“No individual is above the law, and I will continue to fully cooperate with any legal proceedings seeking the truth and protecting our democracy,” Nguyen said. “I believe that every individual who wrongfully and illegally tried to overturn our valid elections should be held accountable so that we can have, as John Adams said, ‘a government of laws, and not of men.’”

Chidi, who testified before the special purpose grand jury, said late Monday that he was dismissed without testifying Monday. He called it a victory for journalists.

The independent Atlanta reporter walked into the fake electors’ meeting at the state Capitol after noticing someone who would have likely served as a GOP elector had Trump won Georgia. He said he was intrigued when the person acted strangely toward him, so he started streaming on Facebook live and followed the man into the meeting room before quickly being ushered out.

When he asked what kind of meeting it was, a woman said they were having an “education” meeting, he said.

“Plainly, they were not having an education meeting. So, up until five minutes ago, the district attorney believed that that observation was relevant to these legal proceedings,” Chidi told a group of reporters who swarmed around him as he left the courthouse. “And perhaps it still is, but the jury may have enough information without me to make a decision.”

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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris implored Congress to pass voting rights legislation during a visit to Atlanta on Tuesday. The Democrats said they support changes to the Senate filibuster rules if Republicans continue to block the measures from debate. (Stanley Dunlap | Georgia Recorder)

President Joe Biden called for an end to the Senate filibuster during a visit to Atlanta’s Morehouse College campus, arguing Senate Democrats can push past GOP opposition now blocking major voting rights legislation.

The visit by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Atlanta was the latest sign of Georgia’ central role as a battleground state for voting rights that ratcheted up following the 2020 elections after Democratic wins for president and Senate that helped flip control of Congress and the White House.

With the likelihood of Republican Georgia lawmakers pursuing more restrictive voting rules after last year’s sweeping overhaul legislation, not implementing meaningful federal protections sooner rather than later is a threat to Democracy, Biden said before a crowd gathered on the grounds of the Atlanta University Center, home to historically Black colleges Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse, and Spelman College.

“While the denial of fair elections is not democratic, it is not unprecedented,” Biden said. “Black Americans were denied full citizenship voting rights until 1965. Women were denied the right to vote just 100 years ago. 

“The United States Supreme Court in recent years has weakened the Voting Rights Act,” Biden added. “Now, the defeated former president and his supporters use the big lie on the 2020 elections to fuel torment and anti-voting laws.

“I think the threat to our democracy is so great that we must find a way to pass this voting rights bill,” Biden said. “Debate them, vote, let the majority prevail and if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster.” 

The president’s remarks are his most explicit endorsement of Senate Democrats using their newfound power to change filibuster rules that require 60 votes rather than a simple majority to advance and pass legislation. The Senate is split 50-50, with the vice president able to break ties.

Republicans and at least a few Democrats oppose the controversial political play. In a chamber split along political lines, Democrats would need all of their senators to back them. 

Harris said it’s time to fight back against Senate Republicans who are using procedural rules to bottle up bills that would ensure free and fair elections for years to come.

“Let us be clear, the Constitution of the United States gives the Congress the power to pass legislation and nowhere does the Constitution give the minority the right to unilaterally block legislation,” Harris said. “The American people have waited long enough. The Senate must act.”

Using the filibuster to advance voting rights bills faces an uphill battle from within the Democratic Party, with Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia standing firm that changing the rule should be bipartisan. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has said she’s not in favor of making any rule revisions to push through voting legislation, although she supports access to the ballot.

The Freedom to Vote Act is one of the two major voting bills that Democrats are pushing to get passed this year. It would make Election Day a national holiday and set minimum election standards, including same-day voter registration and mandatory early voting that lasts two weeks.  

The other signature voting legislation is the John Lewis Voting Rights and Advancement Act, which would strengthen the Voting Rights Act by requiring all 50 states to receive permission from the Justice Department before changing voting laws.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, expects a push for a debate on voting rights legislation in the Senate any day.

The speeches by the president and vice president Tuesday were greeted with sharp criticism by the Georgia Republican Party and top GOP state officials who said it was a Democratic attempt to undermine elections. Prior to the visit, multiple civil rights voter advocacy organizations criticized what they said was a long overdue call to action from the Biden administration.

Following the 2020 presidential election Georgia lawmakers overhauled the state’s election law, Democrats and progressive groups charged Republicans disenfranchised Black and other minority voters, as well as people with disabilities, resulting in multiple lawsuits attempting to reverse Georgia’s new election law.

Several major civil rights leaders were on hand at Morehouse Tuesday, including the Rev. Al Sharpton but noticeably missing from the visit was voting rights advocate and Democratic candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams, who said she had a scheduling conflict. Abrams issued a statement cheering their visit to Georgia and saying she spoke with Biden by phone earlier in the day. 

“To protect our democracy, I ask all Democratic Senators and Republicans of good conscience to support restoring the Senate via a rule change that will pave the way for swift Senate passage and President Biden’s signature,” Abrams said in the statement.

Black Voters Matter and New Georgia Project and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials are among the groups critical of the Biden administration for failing to capitalize on the momentum gained with the historic presidential and U.S. Senate election wins in the state.

Over the last year the Biden administration didn’t take a hard line against members of Congress standing in the way of voting rights, said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter.

“Those of us on the ground have been very vocal on this issue,” she said on Monday. “At this point, we’re beyond speeches, we’re beyond events. What we are demanding is that there is federal legislation that will actually correct some of the wrongs that are taking place. We’re not willing to continue to feel the brunt of this attack that’s on us.”

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr defended Georgia’s election law changes Tuesday afternoon while calling out Harris and Biden for attempting to force their “radical agenda on hardworking Georgians.”

“Georgia is ground zero for the Biden-Harris assault on election integrity as well as attempts to federalize everything from how hardworking Georgians run their businesses, to what our kids are taught in school, to how we run elections,” Kemp said.

Republican lawmakers say the state’s 2021 voting law strengthens elections with new absentee ID requirements, reduces lines at polling places, while expanding voting options through additional early voting hours compared to pre-pandemic rules.

More election legislation is up for consideration in this year’s Georgia Legislature, including a controversial proposal to eliminate absentee drop boxes.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also held a press conference Tuesday to criticize the Biden administration for attempting to change a longstanding Senate rule to push a “partisan agenda.” 

“Make no mistake; this is an attempt to weaken election security under the guise of voting rights,” Raffensperger said while speaking at the state Capitol.

During their visit to Atlanta, Biden and Harris also met with the King family as they participated in a wreath laying at the crypt of the slain civil rights icon and his late wife, Coretta Scott King. Monday is the national holiday celebrating King’s life.

Biden implored legislators to follow King’s lead.

“I ask every elected official in America, how do you want to be remembered?”  Biden asked. “Consequential moments in history present a choice. Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to know the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor?”

The Georgia Recorder’s Ross Williams contributed to this report.

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