Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is seeking legal advice on whether he has the authority to remove three controversial members of the state Board of Election who are backed by Donald Trump and working to change election rules, according to a new report.
Democratic and some GOP state lawmakers, civil rights leaders and clergy members are pushing for the removal of the trio over their troubling changes in ballot-counting and election-certification rules that critics fear would disrupt the election on behalf of Trump if he again loses the state.
"These election board members that are not acting in the good faith of Georgians need to be immediately removed," said Democratic state Sen. Nabilah Islam-Parkes.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein reported Monday that Kemp's office has asked the state attorney general for guidance on what action can be taken against them.
Trump-friendly board members Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Janice Johnson have been accused of violating ethics rules and the state's open meeting law as they battle to reshape the election landscape to pave the way for a Trump challenge if he again loses the state.
Kemp and the former president had an acrimonious falling out over the 2020 election after the governor stood by the results when Trump leaned on state officials in a recorded phone call to somehow "find" him more votes after he lost to Joe Biden.
At a political rally early this month Trump called the Republican governor a "bad guy ... a disloyal guy" for not backing his false claims of election fraud.
He suddenly had an about-face, however, in a social media post last week thanking Kemp "for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party."
Trump is currently the target of a stalled court case by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charging him with illegally plotting to overthrow the state's election results.
A focus of the case is the recording of the conversation Trump had when phoned in to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021 to complain about the election.
"It's pretty clear we won Georgia ... pretty substantially," Trump baselessly insisted on the call.
After he was assured the ballot tally was accurate and there was no evidence of foul play following recounts and investigations, Trump told Raffensperger and the state counsel, who was also on the call, to "find" him just enough votes to put him over Biden.
"Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break," Trump pleaded. "There's nothing wrong with saying you've recalculated," he urged.
Trump's attorneys on Monday again demanded in a Georgia appeals court that Willis be disqualified from pressing the case against Trump.
Willis indicted Trump and 18 supporters last August of a total of 41 criminal counts, including felonies and an anti-racketeering charge for attempts to overthrow the Georgia presidential election.
Four of the 18 originally indicted have already reached plea deals with Willis' office.
