ATLANTA — A congressional committee has issued a report critical of Republican Brian Kemp’s role in alleged voter suppression in Georgia — and claims that Kemp stonewalled the committee by withholding thousands of documents.
The report – written by Democrats in Congress – claims Kemp and his staff mocked Georgia Democrats when they made claims of voter suppression in 2017 and 2018.
It shows then-Secretary of State Kemp and a staffer exchanged a Democratic fundraising email highlighting a newspaper story about 591,000 cancelled voter registrations. Kemp was campaigning for governor at the time.
It shows the staffer sent it to Kemp – with two laughing emojis, and the word "us" – and Kemp responding with a winking emoji and the word “us.”
The report also claims Kemp’s office influenced the closing of polling places in Georgia, even while claiming the closures were the work of local election officials.
The committee report also highlights “unfounded accusations of a Democratic hack” made by Kemp's office three days before the 2018 election – when the Secretary of State’s office announced it was investigating the Georgia Democratic party.
The report says the state “did not produce any evidence” of the hack to the congressional committee – and “withheld multiple internal emails” requested from the committee. It said the secretary of state and governor’s offices withheld 1400 responsive documents from the congressional committee.
Kemp’s office didn’t respond to our request for comment.
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