Georgia state Sen. Moore raises eyebrows with special session call

ATLANTA — First-term Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, raised eyebrows Thursday, asking Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special legislative session so lawmakers could investigate the district attorney who brought racketeering charges against former President Donald Trump.

Kemp has maintained the 2020 election in Georgia was fair and not “stolen,” as Trump and supporters have claimed without evidence.

On Monday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced charges against Trump and 18 others on accusations of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election results of the 2020 presidential election. Georgia Republicans have had split reactions to the indictments.

Without Kemp’s support, Moore would need the support of three-fifths of the House and Senate to compel Kemp to call a special session. Even if all GOP lawmakers supported the move, they don’t have enough members in either chamber to make it happen without at least some Democrats joining in.

While some laughed off Moore’s effort, which was posted on social media along with a link to donate to his re-election campaign, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston wasn’t taking his effort lightly.

“We have legislators who haven’t seen one stitch of evidence from the prosecutor’s office now trying to use their bully pulpit to intimidate that prosecutor for doing her job,” Boston said. “We should all be concerned by that.”

(READ MORE: Trump has been indicted in a fourth case. Here’s where all the investigations stand)

Moore told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he hadn’t heard from Kemp but that he had been occupied much of Thursday with interviews with conservative media outlets after his posts gained attention on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

In a phone interview, Moore said he was tired of what he called a lack of leadership from Georgia officials regarding the charges against Trump. Social media posts aren’t enough, he said, and action must be taken.

He referenced another anti-racketeering case in Fulton County against Atlanta rapper Young Thug, which has faced dealys and a slow jury selection process.

“And meanwhile, she gets up at the podium at a press conference and says she’s going to take down these 19 individuals in six months — right before an election cycle,” he said. “And the charges are nothing more than political persecution.”

Moore lives in the congressional district of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently said she could be interested in running for a higher office.

Also Thursday, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said he is ready to “tell his side of the story” about his part in the effort to overturn the election results.

Jones was not one of the 18 charged along with Trump on accusations, though he served as one of the 16 fake Republican Electoral College electors who signed documents falsely claiming Trump won. With the indictments earlier this week, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia has signaled it is considering investigating Jones.

Last year, Jones had been notified by Willis that he could face charges. That was before a judge ruled that the Democratic DA had a conflict of interest and could no longer investigate the then-state senator. Willis hosted a fundraiser for Jones’ Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race last year.

Jones said it was “not a surprise” that the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council’s executive director filed a motion to unseal the special grand jury report that resulted from Willis’ investigation last year that could include information about the lieutenant governor.

“When we challenged the DA’s legitimacy last year, the judge ruled in our favor,” Jones told reporters Thursday. “So we knew it was coming and we welcome the opportunity to talk to somebody who’s not politically motivated and biased and just tell the truth and tell our side of the story.”

At least eight of the GOP alternate electors took immunity deals, while three others were charged in the indictment. Jones was referenced in the document as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Jones has said Willis’ investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election was about pursuing a “political vendetta.”

“It’s been 2 1/2 years and a lot of grandstanding and self-promotion,” he said. “And so I think it’s a waste of taxpayer money, No. 1, and I think they’re higher and better priorities as far as crime and, and backlog in that office. But, you know, that’s not my choice.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Times Free Press staff writer Andrew Wilkins contributed to this report.