In my recent post entitled, “Kemp, Carr, Jones and Dooley - Irony, or Complete Hypocrisy in Georgia's Midterms,” once again we discussed Georgia’s “Leadership Committee” law, SB221, passed by Governor Kemp during the 2021 General Assembly. As I have described several times calling for its repeal, among other provisions SB221 permits Georgia’s Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or any candidate receiving party nominations for those statewide offices, to elicit dark money from anonymous contributors, situated virtually anywhere in the world. Those sources are entitled to legally contribute UNLIMITED funds to so-called “leadership committees” chaired by the elected officials so described. Thus, among other major concerns with this law, SB221 is an obvious national security issue.
The use of SB221 happens to be the predominant means by which Governor Kemp is financially supporting family friend Derek Dooley to run for Senate, last year Kemp having transferred $950K from his Georgian’s First Leadership Committee to a Kemp-controlled, Dooley-supporting PAC by the name of Hardworking Americans, Inc. Although Kemp’s 2025 transfers are not yet published, we can expect they are substantial. It is safe to say, without SB221, Dooley would stand little chance in his senate bid. Yet, with it Dooley is likely the front-runner, as no other candidate will have his fundraising ability. SB221 is a game-changer in Georgia politics.
But the candidate most butt-hurt by all this is Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, running against Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones to become Georgia’s next Governor. Recently, Carr sued Jones personally for using the Lieutenant Governor’s lawful leadership committee to aid in financing his pursuit of Georgia’s governorship in 2026. The grounds for Carr’s suit centered on the unfairness of Jones, Lieutenant Governor, possessing that kind of an unlimited fundraising tool, when Carr, Attorney General, does not.
In suing Jones personally, however, Carr attempted to walk a fine line with respect to SB221. You see, in a 2022 case brought by then gubernatorial candidate David Perdue against several defendants, including the State of Georgia and the State Ethics Commission members, as Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr was tasked to defend the constitutionality of the questionably-constitutional law. In that case, as Georgia’s Attorney General, Carr was also a named as a DEFENDANT:
While Carr lost that case, in Perdue v. Kemp the question posed to the court was not the law’s overall constitutionality. It was instead a narrowly-defined question whether Kemp’s application of the law to support his primary campaign should be disallowed by the Georgia Ethics Commission, basing the Perdue campaign’s arguments on a violation of certain First Amendment rights of Candidate Perdue. As a result, Perdue won an injunction requiring the Ethics Commission to step in to protect Perdue’s constitutional rights.
But now the positions are reversed. In an attempt to appear consistent with his previous defense of SB221, including its constitutionality, and while maintaining his responsibilities as Georgia’s chief attorney, this time Chris Carr did not sue the State of Georgia and the ethics commission to protect his rights. Had he done so, as Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr would find himself in the divided position of having to defend against his own lawsuit, an obvious conflict of interest.
Thus, to make that otherwise likely-winning case, Chris Carr would first have to resign his position as the state’s head lawyer and make the same arguments as Perdue. Unless he is willing to do that, which is not likely, Chris Carr appears to be in checkmate. From his elected office in state government, Carr apparently has no legal pathway to achieve perhaps a worthy goal of limiting the use of SB221’s provisions against his own gubernatorial candidacy. To achieve that purpose, someone else running in the Republican primary for governor would have to establish standing to make a case against the State of Georgia, similar to the case of David Perdue in 2022. If that might happen, guess who would have to defend AGAINST that very same lawsuit…that’s right, Attorney General Chris Carr.
Below is the most recent video by Attorney General Carr attempting to spin his predicament and court loss into a fundraising tool:
Notice Chris Carr attributing his court loss to a “procedural technicality.” There is no such technicality. Chris Carr attempted to sue Burt Jones, personally, for using SB221, as written, to Jones’ benefit. While the judge was sympathetic, she also could not justify Carr’s complaint on the grounds that Jones is simply obeying the law. After the ruling, the Jones campaign is made hay of Carr’s failed attempt, spokeswoman Kendyl Parker quoted as saying, “If Chris is this bad at being a lawyer, why would anyone want to give him a promotion?”
Now, none of this proves Chris Carr is a bad lawyer, although he may be. It simply means that, as Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr is perhaps the one individual in the state who would not be able to make the real case here, one that must eventually be made, that Georgia law under SB221 “is an unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment,” and must be repealed or nullified. So, Carr knows the real issue here. He simply can’t make that case from where he sits.
Unlike the judge who threw Carr’s case out, however, given Carr’s lack of concern over election integrity in the past, I, for one, am not quite so sympathetic to his predicament.
Yeah stuck in a bind legal system is working as intended separation of power
Ironi is one of my most loved God's retribution.