Georgia State Senators Shelly Echols, R-Gainesville, and Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, issued a response Monday after a push from Senator Colton Moore, R-Trenton, for a special session of the Georgia General Assembly to review the actions of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in connection with the ongoing Trump election meddling case.
In a viral letter from Moore to Governor Brian Kemp, Moore stated a three-fifths majority from the state Senate and House of Representatives was ready to enact a special session to “include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis.”
But Echols and Hatchett said Moore’s statement was far from the truth.
“We do not have a sufficient majority to call a special session,” the statement from Echols and Hatchett reads. “The law requires a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate, and we do not have that majority in either chamber. Not only does every legislator know this, but it’s also public knowledge.”
While the two senators said they believed Willis’ actions were “politically motivated,” and “nothing more than theatrical fundraising,” they said they also believed Moore’s push for a special session was also “theatrical fundraising.”
“The truth is legislators create laws, but the Constitution does not give us the power to enforce them,” the statement from Echols and Hatchett reads. “Though Colton Moore has dismissed it (because he was the only Republican senator to vote against it- voting, instead, with the Democrats), we already put into place a law that holds prosecutors accountable to their oath of office. SB 92, which was passed earlier this year, established a Prosecutorial Oversight Commission tasked with disciplining prosecutors for misconduct”
In an interview Monday on WDUN’s The Martha Zoller Show, Echols said Moore had not contacted her or other legislators prior to the release of the letter.
“To my knowledge, and I’ve spoken with several senators, he hasn’t personally asked any of us,” Echols said. “He has not reached out to any of us to ask us to sign his letter. To me, that shows that this is just political grandstanding. I think he’s using it as a way to fundraise for reelection or his future aspirations.”
Moore is not the only Georgia politician who has their sights set on Fani Willis and the Trump election meddling case. 9th District Congressman Andrew Clyde said on the Wednesday edition of the Martha Zoller Show he would like the prosecution in the case to be pushed back until after the 2024 election.
“You have the Biden administration weaponizing the Department of Justice to prosecute Donald Trump to try and throw him in jail and take him out of the election,” Clyde said. “So I’m introducing an amendment to defund the prosecution, not the investigation … until after the 2024 election. And that defunding both goes at the federal level, and it would be federal funds to the state level as well for any state or local prosecutor that decides to prosecute a major presidential candidate.”
The letter and comments follow the indictments of former President Donald Trump and 18 co-conspirators for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Listen to Shelly Echols’ full interview on WDUN’s The Martha Zoller Show at the Soundcloud link above
http://accesswdun.com/article/2023/8/1201774/echols-hatchett-issue-response-to-call-for-special-session-of-georgia-general-assembly