GOP’s Thirst to Jail Political Opponents Mirrors Trump’s Lawless & Authoritarian Overreach

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Atlanta – Today, in their lawsuit backed by the Republican National Committee, the Fulton County Republican Party sought to have Fulton County Commissioners jailed and held in criminal contempt for declining to vote for far-right election denial activists nominated to the Fulton County Board of Elections.

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After the hearing, the judge issued a ruling, holding the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, as an entity, in civil contempt, with fines of $10,000 per day in effect beginning this Friday and continuing until they appoint the GOP nominees to the county election board. Fulton County’s appeal challenging the original writ directing the appointment of the nominees will continue to go forward. Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo released the following statement in response:

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“It’s good to see courts not bowing to the Republican Party’s authoritarian thirst. Let’s be clear: the GOP is trying to criminalize democracy itself, demanding elected officials be held in criminal contempt and face jail time for doing their jobs.

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“The elected commissioners exercised their discretion to reject election board nominees who have a well-documented history of undermining and obstructing elections. This same situation was resolved in 2023 without jail threats, because the GOP seemed to recognize the commissioners’ discretion to reject unfit candidates and nominated someone new.

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“The only thing that’s changed is Trump and his party’s growing, disturbing desire to criminalize and jail their political opponents.”

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Background: The Fulton GOP is demanding that Fulton County’s elected commissioners install two far-right election deniers – Jason Frazier and Julie Adams – onto the county election board. Both have ties to the Election Integrity Network, a national voter suppression operation led by former Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell, who worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss and advised Trump on his call pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” votes and overturn his loss.

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Rather than nominating new candidates after Frazier and Adams were rejected due to well-documented reports of their efforts to undermine elections, the Fulton GOP (being bankrolled and supported by the RNC with “no limit”) has escalated the dispute – filing legal motions to hold the commissioners in criminal contempt for not voting yes on the nominees and asking the judge to give them jail time.

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This same fight occurred in 2023, when the Fulton GOP sued the Fulton Board of County Commissioners over their rejection of Jason Frazier’s nomination to the county election board. But instead of demanding jail time, the Republican Party dropped its suit, seeming to acknowledge the BOC’s discretion, and submitted a new nominee. The law hasn’t changed – the Republican Party’s tactics have.

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The Commissioners’ Argument: The court’s previous order focuses on the portion of local law that states the Fulton County Board of Commissioners must appoint members to the county election board “from nominations” submitted by political parties – but it does not require any specific commissioner to vote yes to the appointments, nor does it guarantee that a party’s nominees must be accepted.

• The law gives political parties the right to nominate, not to appoint. If the legislature wanted political parties to have appointment power, the law would reflect that.
• “Nominate” means to propose; “appoint” means to choose from among.
• The power of appointment includes discretion.

About the Nominees, Julie Adams and Jason Frazier: Adams and Frazier are operatives in the Election Integrity Network, a group launched by Cleta Mitchell, the former Trump attorney who worked on overturning Trump’s 2020 election loss and advised Trump on his call pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” votes after that loss. The Election Integrity Network grew following the 2020 election – here’s what it does:

• Spreads false narratives about voter fraud.
• Advances strategies its operatives can use to challenge and obstruct election results.
• Trains volunteers to pressure elected officials to pass restrictive voting rules and laws.

Julie Adams’ Documented History of Undermining Elections:

• Julie Adams was confirmed to the Board of Elections in February 2024, then quickly hired by Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network as a regional coordinator, later promoted to director.
• Adams refused to certify the 2024 primary election and filed a lawsuit, backed by Trump allies at the America First Policy Institute, against the Board of Elections itself.
• Reporting revealed she worked behind the scenes with other county election board members who embraced Trump’s Big Lie to push new rules that would make it easier to block certification of results.
• Adams also helped secretly push a rule change to the Trump-aligned Georgia State Election Board that would have empowered local officials to delay the certification of election results. That rule was ultimately blocked by a judge, who called it “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

Jason Frazier’s Documented History of Undermining Elections:

• Jason Frazier has filed voter challenges targeting nearly 10,000 Fulton residents.
• He participated in Election Integrity Network strategy calls, and helped develop mass voter challenge software backed by Mitchell.
• He has sued to remove voters from the rolls during federally protected periods and posted voters’ personal information. 
• He even called for criminal investigations into Fulton election officials.

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