Wayback Machine Reveals Last Known Status of Georgia Republican Party, "Before the Corporation"
Establishment RINO Republicans Embark on Final Trip to Elephant Graveyard
When I was a kid, there was a clever cartoon series entitled, “Mr. Peabody’s Improbable History.” Mr. Peabody, an erudite cartoon canine, had a boy named Sherman, reversing the roles one might normally expect, the two effectively becoming, “a dog and his boy.”
Mr. Peabody was a self-proclaimed “average genius,” a “puppy prodigy” he would tout. At age 3 (15 to 18 in human years), Mr. Peabody received his cartoon “wagna-cum laude” degree from Harvard, spoke eight languages fluently, all at once, performed secret government research, and made a fortune on the stock market becoming known as the “Wolf of Wall Street.” One day, Mr. Peabody rescued a boy, Sherman, who he found in an alley attacked by other stray boys, eventually adopting Sherman as one might a pet. Needless to say, Sherman had much to learn, being the boy of Mr. Peabody, and Mr. Peabody suffered Sherman’s lack of brain capacity, however eager disposition, attempting to teach his pet boy all he would need to know to succeed in the world. After all, I suppose, dogs don’t live as long as boys.
As the premise develops, noting that boys need room to play, living in an apartment only large enough for one dog-genius, Mr. Peabody invented a machine which would allow Sherman to get his exercise and teach his young pet boy valuable knowledge of history at the same time. Mr. Peabody called it, the “Wayback Machine.” The Wayback Machine could transfer the two back to any previous moment and place in history, at which time Sherman could get his exercise while witnessing historical events as they occurred. And because Mr. Peabody was a dog teaching history to children, rather than an adult, each cartoon was much more entertaining than it would be otherwise, an attribute which helped to develop and maintain childhood interest in learning history.
Cartoon Series Inspires the Name of a Powerful Internet Research Tool
Now, I told you about Mr. Peabody and Sherman as a sort of segue for you to understand from where some of the following information derives. It comes from the Internet’s “Wayback Machine,” obviously a take-off on the cartoon. I’m no authority on how it works, no more than Sherman would be, but, if one desires to find remnants, or copies, in whole or in part, of previous Internet pages, dating back many years, the place to go would be the Internet Archive Wayback Machine website. One might not find exactly what one is looking for, but then again, one might.
Recently, fellow researcher, Sarah Thompson, ventured to the Wayback Machine website where she discovered certain pages relating to subjects I have broached in the past. The information she uncovered provides valuable insight with respect to a false pretense maintained by certain executive officers of the Georgia Republican Party (such as it is), that through some process or procedure prescribed nowhere in law, the Georgia “party of Lincoln” somehow “incorporated itself.” I have discussed this subject many times, that no one is at liberty to “incorporate one’s self.” As they say, to “incorporate one’s self” is not a thing. There is no way to accomplish such a feat, no process, no procedure, no forms to fill out, no fee to pay, etc. It cannot be done. To illustrate this, let’s say I drop in on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, and follow the process of creating a Georgia corporation by the name of “Hank Sullivan, Inc.” Accomplishing that goal does not mean that I, Hank Sullivan, a living, breathing individual, a natural person, born of a natural mother, simultaneously adopt the identity of a corporation I create simply by using my name, a corporation in existence solely by virtue of certain acts by the Georgia Legislature and my checking a few boxes on a website. No, I would still be me, and only me, a legal person, my identity fully intact. The product I create with the help of the Secretary of State’s website would be a corporation, an entity separate and distinct from myself. Whereas I could never sell myself, at least not these days, I could indeed sell Hank Sullivan, Inc. should I, as its owner and a willing purchaser agree to a price.
And the same truth is applicable to legal entities created under different codes of law. One legal entity, a corporation for example, in existence solely due to provisions in law found in Title 14 of the Georgia Code, can never “skip” or “morph” across code titles and become an entity existing by virtue of provisions of a different Georgia code title, such as Title 21. There is no procedure in law to do that. Title 14 governs the creation and regulation of CORPORATIONS. Title 21 governs the creation and regulation of ELECTIONS and POLITICAL PARTIES. Those two Georgia code titles, have different requirements, different purposes, and different outcomes. They are like apples versus oranges. Can an apple become an orange? I don’t have to answer that for most of you, but in case some of the Georgia Republican Party executives are reading this and find themselves puzzled by the question, the answer is NO, an apple cannot become an orange. An apple cannot even evolve and become an orange. And neither can a corporation defined under Title 14 evolve and become a political party as defined under Title 21. Those requirements are DIFFERENT. They have different DNA in law. They are different colors of law. That means those legal entities are DIFFERENT from each other, forever. They can never come together and become a single entity, with a matching DNA or color of law.
But certain executive officers of the Georgia Republican Party to whom I refer, elected to their positions by virtue of proceedings at the Georgia Republican Convention last June, want you to believe that the Georgia Republican Party, existing solely via authorities conveyed many years ago under Title 21, has through some magic not identified or written in law, melded, or perhaps morphed, or evolved into some hybrid animal undefined in law, becoming one with a corporation of the same name simply by typing “Inc.” at the end of the party name in a party rules document, arriving into existence under the auspices of Title 14 and Title 21 simultaneously.
Secretary of State Office Cooperating with GRP, Inc. Scam
And all that I describe is apparently being orchestrated in concert and cooperation with the office of Secretary of State Raffensperger, whose general counsel stated her supposed “belief” below that “GRP’s current rules,” satisfy the “party’s filing requirements under OCGA 21-2-110 and 111.”
Ms. McGowan alludes to the requirement that, according to the above referenced code, a political party must AMEND its registration statement any time a change in officers, or a change in rules, occurs. That requirement is laid out in section 21-2-110(d) below:
Such a change occurred during last June’s Republican State Convention.
But, here’s the problem. As you will notice, subsection (f), referring to subsections (a) and (b), requires that a party registration statement, include “The names, home addresses, and titles of the persons composing its governing committee and executive officers,” and it must be filed “at least 60 days before any primary or election at which it shall seek to have candidates on the ballot.”
Subsection (a) also requires submission of certified copies of the party RULES (see below).
Now, if you search the Internet for “Georgia Republican Party Rules,” you will be directed to the gagop.org website, where you will find a page associated with the rules you seek. When you click on the link to the RULES page, however, you will not find the “Rules of the Georgia Republican Party,” a political party under Title 21 of the Georgia Code. Instead you will find the rules of a corporation by the same name (just add “Inc.”), which exists under Title 14. As I have shown over and over in past Substacks, “GRP” and “GRP, Inc.” are not the same entities and therefore cannot fall under the same rules document. The rules or bylaws of some corporation, regardless its name, do not suffice for the rules of a political party, as required under OCGA 21-2-110, and vice versa.
Thus, when General Counsel McGowan writes she “believes” the receipt of the rules to which I refer satisfy the requirements of OCGA 21-2-110, her “belief” is immediately called into question by the fact that no Georgia law empowers a corporation to become a political party, nor a political party to become a corporation. If you disagree, please find the law and put it in the comments. All authorities for both entities are PRESCRIBED into law. There are no authorities NOT PRESCRIBED in law. Authorities NOT PRESCRIBED, such as the authority to morph into a different type of entity, therefore DO NOT EXIST. In other words, if General Counsel McGowan wrote the above statement relying on the corporate document you see on the gagop.org website, she appears to have made a mistake “believing” as she portrays.
Why is any of this important? It is important because, should the Georgia Republican Party be out of compliance with the requirements of OCGA 21-2-110, that fact could mean that the candidates it places on the ballots, not only in the upcoming primaries, but also the November general election, could be disqualified by a court. That is because the Republican Party, portraying itself as a corporation, would not be in compliance with party registration requirements of 21-2-110 “at least 60 days before any primary or election at which it shall seek to have candidates on the ballot.” It also means that the associated candidates would have been nominated by, and under the rules of Title 14 corporations, rather than Title 21 political parties, corporations not endowed the lawful right to ballot access.
And why is that important? It is important because if a political party is not in compliance, according to section (f), the names of its candidates will “not be placed on any nomination petition, ballot, or ballot label.”
And as you can see, time has now slipped to within the 60-day time frame within which a non-compliant political party could have its candidates disqualified.
Oh, but according to former Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer everything is fine because, as he contends, the penalty for not maintaining a current registration only pertains to the original registration, as far back as the year 1964.
Is the former Chairman correct? If he is, then there would be no compelling motivation for any political party to ever get around to maintaining its registration statement. But think about it even deeper. An inaccurate party registration statement is no registration statement at all. And at best, the question whether there would be any repercussion should a political party fall out of compliance within the time frames established by 21-2-110, could only be resolved in court after a suit would be filed by an aggrieved party, possibly one questioning the outcome of a general election. Why would any responsible party chairman, such as present Chairman McKoon, neglect the simple duty to maintain a valid, current registration statement knowing that opposing political parties could bring suit to disqualify winning Republican candidates in the November election…including, for example, Donald Trump, should the 45th president become the Republican nominee.
Wayback Machine Revelations
And this is where we begin to look at Ms. Sarah’s discovery in the Internet Wayback Machine. In my October 8 Substack entitled, “Where, Oh Where Has the Georgia Republican Party Gone? State of Georgia has no records-Take a hint,” I demonstrated that prior to the 2014 incorporation of Georgia Republican Party, Inc. (GRP Inc.), the Georgia Republican Party (GRP) was duly registered and in compliance with the Secretary of State. We know that among other ways recognizing that the party was sued that year, its name and description listed as a defendant in the suit.
I also documented for you that neither the Secretary of State, nor the Georgia Archives would recently admit possessing any information whatsoever pertaining to the Georgia Republican Party. I wrote:
[I]t appears that for some reason all references to the Georgia Republican Party have been wiped clean from public access by the State of Georgia. Yes, the State of Georgia appears to have “disappeared” the Georgia Republican Party from its public records. When asked under Open Records Requests to provide any registration statement for the Georgia Republican Party dating back to 1964, including registration statements by like-named organizations or corporations, also to include any filings or articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules for the Georgia Republican Party and the Georgia Republican Party, Inc., the Secretary of State’s ORR records staff ultimately answered the following:
In the end, neither the Georgia Secretary of State nor the Archives would provide any information to fill the open records request.
Thank You Mr. Peabody!
But now, thanks to the Internet Wayback Machine and some diligent searching by Ms. Thompson, anyone can step alongside Sherman into Mr. Peabody’s contraption and view the 2013 Georgia Republican Party website, such as it existed prior to the incorporation of GRP, Inc., which occurred the following year. Here is a linked screenshot of the home page, as it existed in 2013.
Sighting down the party homepage, the 2013 Georgia Republican Party Rules, along with an Excel spreadsheet listing the 2013 governing state committee, can be accessed by clicking on the “Downloadable Resources” button as it appears here:
There you will find a true, downloadable duplicate of the last Georgia Republican Party Rules presumably in existence, rules which were in effect prior to the incorporation of GRP, Inc. The rules you will find are authentic, as filed with the State of Georgia, signed by the party chairman at the time, John Padgett, and stamped RECEIVED by the Election Division of the Georgia Secretary of State, May 24, 2013, six days following the amending date of May 18. These were the Georgia Republican Party Rules in effect during the 2014 lawsuit. These were the rules in effect on the day, and indeed following the day, and every day after the GRP, Inc. incorporation documents were filed. In fact, in the absence of any Georgia Republican Party Rules to supersede it, the rules you see below and which you can download, ARE STILL THE RULES OF THE GEORGIA REPUBLICAN PARTY TODAY, rather than the rules the corporation published on its website.
When Did the Attempted Incorporation Occur?
Now, sometime between May and July of 2015, Georgia Republican Treasurer Mansell McCord advised the Federal Election Commission in writing of a name change of the Georgia Republican Party, the new name becoming, “Georgia Republican Party, Inc.”
The reason offered for the name change, given the FEC in August of that year was simply, “We have incorporated.”
Because there are no procedures empowered or prescribed in law for a political party to become a corporation, my best guess is that a Republican State Committee meeting was called, at which time the issue of morphing the party into a corporation, as if doing so might be possible, was discussed and put to an up or down vote. Frankly, I have no idea what procedures or machinations may have been proposed or undertaken to attempt that purpose, but what I describe makes sense. But I do know one thing, and that is that whatever means those running the Georgia Republican Party undertook at the time, those means were not fit for the purpose intended. The purpose they undertook, whenever or wherever they did it, cannot be done lawfully. If it could, there would be provisions in Titles 14 or 21 explaining how to do it.
How to Fix the Problem
Yet, here we are, going on nine years and almost three presidential elections later, these certain people at the top of the Georgia Republican Party, in cooperation with the Secretary of State, continue to push the ruse, or perhaps the scam, that the party is a corporation and vice versa. Even so, should they eventually choose to reform their ways, there does seem to be a straightforward path out of this charade. So, let’s see if we can reason that path to remedy the problem.
First we must succinctly state the problem. The biggest problem is that corporations in Georgia do not have ballot access. Go ahead, look through Title 14 and tell me where you see that a corporation created under the Georgia Secretary of State has the right and means to place candidates on a legal ballot. You’re not going to find it. It’s not there. Thus, if a corporation tries to place a candidate on a ballot in Georgia, even if the Secretary of State is complicit, a court challenge by an aggrieved party would likely be upheld and deny it.
Secondly, let’s recognize that at long last, Ms. Thompson’s archeological work has successfully unearthed the true “Rules of the Georgia Republican Party,” effectively buried and dormant over the past nine years, rules which apparently have never been lawfully amended, and which are thereby still in force. Those rules are the ones from 2013, which Ms. Sarah dug up while conducting research at Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine.
Thirdly, let’s also agree that, regardless the procedures or machinations party executives may have undertaken in 2015, activities designed to morph the party into a corporation, those activities were unsuccessful. All that means that the Republican Party is still the same lawful entity it was in 2013, operating under the 2013 Rules. We confirm that because political parties cannot be destroyed or dissolved. That is because political parties are created under law and therefore can only be dissolved under law. But there are no laws offering the possibility of dissolving a political party, and no procedures even prescribed to do it. If we accept the premise that the Georgia Republican Party did come into existence lawfully at some moment in the distant past, then it is still there today, albeit out of compliance with Georgia Code.
Finally, assuming all that to be true, all that must be done to bring the Georgia Republican Party back into compliance would be to amend the 2013 party registration filing the following with the Secretary of State:
The address of its principal office; and
The names, home addresses, and titles of the persons composing its governing committee and executive officers.
Those requirements are spelled out under OCGA 21-2-110.
And so that no one gets confused, the party should also refile the 2013 Rules.
Why Won’t They Fix the Problem?
“But, Hank, that’s really so simple. Why won’t party executives do what is necessary to avoid the very real possibility that the Georgia Republican Presidential Primary and the November general elections might be challenged in races should Republicans win?”
Okay, now we are getting down to the crux of all this, the reason no one in position to fix this is interested in restoring the lawful status of the Georgia Republican Party. All I can do is tell you what I see, which has not changed since I began writing on this subject months ago. I see an attempt by the Georgia Republican establishment, the “Old Guard” if you will, to “corporatize” our state political system. I do not think any of them can deny it. What I just wrote is right in front of us. So what do I mean by “corporatize?”
Put it this way, how would you like a political system which allows corporations to use corporate wealth and influence to place candidates directly onto public ballots? Think about what I just asked for a minute. In 2014, Georgia Republican Party Chairman John Padgett created a corporation with a like name of the Georgia Republican Party, a corporation which along with the cooperation of Georgia’s secretary of state, the governor, and even the state attorney general, has since taken over the operation of placing candidates on a statewide ballot. If this corporation, separate and distinct from any lawful political party, can do that, then why not Delta Airlines? Why not Georgia-Pacific? Why not Liberty Media, owner of the Atlanta Braves? Why not Toyota or some Chinese corporation? Why not the Clinton Foundation?? Sound crazy? It’s not crazy given that there is no difference between John Padgett and his successors doing as I describe, and any of those corporations doing the same thing.
County Republican Coalition Corporations Competing Against County Republican Parties
Take a look at the following website, https://cherokeerepublicans.org/
A newcomer to Cherokee County might look at the URL and believe this website, “cherokeerepublicans.org,” is that of the Cherokee County Republican Party. It’s not. It is the website of a corporation established by crony operatives of Governor Brian Kemp. Why did they do that? They did that in Cherokee County, and have incorporated sister “Republican Coalition” corporations in at least 22 other Georgia Counties where RINO establishment control over local political levers have shifted to America First, MAGA Republicans, the Old Guard members now outnumbered to the extent that they have become disaffected. In county after county, all over Georgia, the Old Guard comprised of establishment, globalist, RINO Republicans is being replaced. The numbers to keep the establishment party chiefs in power are no longer there.
So where do all of those disaffected, Old Guard Republicans go? Brian Kemp has given them a place to land, and calls them, Republican Coalition CORPORATIONS. In Cherokee County, one of Kemp’s “Coalition” candidates won a board of elections appointment over the America First true Republican Party nominees, the Kemp candidate being selected by a Kemp-sympathizing county commission. Do you see how this works?
In times past, there would be no way an elected secretary of state in Georgia, Republican or Democrat, would have allowed a corporation to pose as a political party with ballot access in Georgia elections. But now we have had the same familiar faces, starting with Brian Kemp, now Brad Raffensperger, in control of that seat since 2010, 14 years ago. We have had two extremely-questionable-to-fraudulent elections while those officials serve in the highest offices of Georgia Government. The natives are restless. Anti-RINO Republicans are showing up to take seats in county Republican Parties all over Georgia. The Old Guard is desperate to remain in control. Without county parties to support them, Old Guard power is steadily diminishing in the party. And that is the reason the powers-that-be are corporatizing our political systems. They are taking steps to privatize control first over ballot access, and then over access to these private, corporatized political parties.
Don’t believe me?
Take a look at this. If you desire to become a member of the Cherokee County Republican Coalition, essentially a PRIVATE political party, you can’t just walk in and join like you can the Republican Party. Absolutely not. To join the CCRC (Looks like CCCP doesn’t it?), you must pass the following tests of worthiness:
These tests are reminiscent of those you would expect to “join the party” in the old USSR, or maybe the Axis combatants prior to and during World War II. When the corporatization of Georgia’s political systems would be complete, your voter registration would also be severely scrutinized, vetted as above to ensure that you will vote as they desire (require). After all, these are private corporations vying to decide what candidates can run for office. Because they are private corporations, they can lawfully exclude anyone from their proprietary election processes. We are witnessing CORPORATE FASCISM in its infancy in Georgia. Allowed to grow, one would end up with a state of affairs akin to Mussolini’s Italy. China operates a very similar political system, one in which oppressive corporations provide the economic engine and wealth necessary to create and maintain a communist control system over the country. And that is what a corporatized political system naturally evolves toward, that is of course, as long as Georgians allow it to continue.
Kemp Makes Annual Pilgrimage to Davos
Just for kicks, ask yourself why Governor Brian Kemp is shortly to take his second trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which, of course, Georgians will pay for. The state of affairs I describe above, pervasive corporate fascism, is exactly the political world the WEF of Klaus Schwab promote. Take a freaking hint, friends.
Is the state of affairs I describe predestined? No. In fact, those working to corporatize Georgia’s political systems are vastly outnumbered. Many disaffected Old Guard RINO Republicans are reaching an age at which they will retire from active political roles. You will not find many America First, MAGA Republicans darkening the door of the CCCP, oops…sorry again…CCRC.
In a certain respect, Republican coalition corporations around Georgia remind me of a place portrayed in those old black-and-white Tarzan movies of the 1940’s, a destination to which aged elephants would journey as life grows short. Ivory hunters called this place the “Elephant Graveyard.” Well, friends, that is what Republican Coalition corporations and others like them really are, elephant graveyards where Old Guard establishment RINO Republicans, and their politics, go to die.
A very well researched article. Thanks to Mr. Sullivan and Ms Thompson for their thorough work.
Thanks also to Hank for pointing out the name issue. I believe that Josh McKoon and his fellow GRP officers have a FIDUCIARY DUTY to stop the Republican Coalition from using the name Republication and the Republican logo (the elephant). It is misleading.
Georgia Republican donors could very well give money to the Coalition in the mistaken belief that they are giving to the party. The name Georgia Republican Party is an ASSET of the party. The officers have a fiduciary duty to protect the asset. They have a duty to take action to stop the misuse of the name and logo.
But Josh McKoon works for Governor Kemp, who controls the Coalition. Would Josh McKoon annoy or upset Kemp, who hired him? Kemp can fire McKoon. Josh McKoon has a conflict of interest.
The officers have a fiduciary duty to step up and take action. Why haven’t they?
Let’s have some ethical leadership, please.
Always great information. I don't live in GA any longer but have friends and family who do.
I read the posts and then forward to friends for their use and knowledge. I hope they will subscribe to the page as it would surely help them fight the system.