DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS, GA RUNOFF EDITION: LOEFFLER’S HUSBAND’S STOCK BUYING BLITZ TIED TO “THEN-SECRET BILL”—PERDUE CAUGHT IN ANOTHER ETHICS SCANDAL

ANOTHER WEEK OF SCANDALS: LOEFFLER EDITION. Unelected senator and political mega-donor Kelly Loeffler is joining Senator David Perdue in receiving heightened attention during the runoff for being a corrupt, self-dealing politician. In the past week alone, Loeffler has faced well-deserved scrutiny as new reporting revealed another stock trading scandal, more shady business practices, and more self-serving lies. Here’s the rundown of Loeffler’s scandal-plagued week:

• First, a bombshell HuffPost investigation revealed that Loeffler’s husband –– New York Stock Exchange boss Jeffrey Sprecher –– was buying stock in corporations “poised to take advantage” of “very specific provisions” in the CARES Act as Senate Republicans were privately drafting the emergency stimulus package. Just days before the bill was introduced in the Senate, Sprecher began purchasing “up to $1 million in new shares.” At the time, “the terms of the CARES Act were still mostly a secret, known primarily to Republican senators,” but Loeffler’s husband managed to make well-timed investments in several giant corporations “that would reap millions,” raising further questions about whether Loeffler has ever used insider information “to inform her own portfolio.”

• Then, a new Mother Jones report revealed that while Loeffler was a top executive at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), her company “provided a platform for highly speculative unregulated energy trading that ended up causing an Enron-like scandal and costing residents of Georgia millions of dollars.” Reminder: it’s not the first time Loeffler’s company has been caught engaging in shady practices to boost its bottom line.

• And that’s not all––an analysis from The Daily Beast revealed Loeffler has been running on and taking credit for a bill that she did “nothing to push” while ICE was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying against it in Washington. In fact, Loeffler didn’t even vote for the legislation targeting foreign companies on U.S. stock exchanges –– like the New York Stock Exchange, owned by ICE –– and she did not tout it until months after it passed the Senate by unanimous consent. 

KELLY’S LATEST HYPOCRISY: NEWFOUND ANTI-BIG TECH STANCE AT ODDS WITH HER HISTORY. The week couldn’t end without another reminder that Kelly is only out for Kelly. A new Salon report today highlighted how Loeffler’s newfound public posturing against big technology corporations is “at odds” with her long history of investing heavily in the sector, her recent position as CEO of a cryptocurrency joint venture with Microsoft, and the tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash she has taken from tech firms over the past year that she’s been in Washington despite public promises “that she does not take money from big tech.” Salon: Loeffler sides with Trump against “Big Tech” — after building a massive fortune in the industry 

NEW PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION REVEALS ANOTHER PERDUE ETHICS SCANDAL. In the ongoing competition to see who’s the most corrupt Republican senator from Georgia, David Perdue is putting up a good fight. This week, a new ProPublica investigation uncovered that Perdue sold his Washington, D.C. townhouse for $1.8 million in an off market deal to a finance industry official whose organization falls under the jurisdiction of Perdue’s Banking Committee. The deal raises “serious suspicions as to whether the sale was in fact at fair market value” and one ethics expert called it a potential “violation of his ethical obligations and an opportunity for those with business pending before Perdue’s committee to curry favor.” ProPublica: Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home to a Finance Industry Official Whose Organization Was Lobbying the Senate

PERDUE VOTED AGAINST MILITARY FUNDING FOR GEORGIANS WHILE PROFITING FROM HIS PENTAGON BILL. And in this week’s edition of Perdue’s self-dealing, a Salon investigation revealed that he “diverted military money to Trump’s wall — while profiting from his own Pentagon bill.” Perdue was already under fire for appearing “to use the power of his office to maximize his investments in a defense contractor.” Now, as he was profiting from his own bill, Perdue “was also casting votes that would have deprived his home state of military funding.” This is just the latest report in a series of continued scrutiny over Senator Perdue’s prolific self-dealing and favors to his special interest donors. Salon: Perdue diverted military money to Trump’s wall — while profiting from his own Pentagon bill

LOEFFLER AND PERDUE’S CLAIMS OF ‘TOTAL EXONERATION’ DEBUNKED. Senators Perdue and Loeffler’s efforts to defend their shady histories of self-dealing and political corruption include desperate claims that they have been “exonerated” by the Senate Ethics Committee. Unfortunately for the two corrupt incumbents, a new investigation by the AJC thoroughly debunked their futile defense, finding that the Ethics Committee “almost never finds fault” with Senators. Multiple congressional ethics experts told the AJC that claims of being cleared should be viewed skeptically and “taken with a grain of salt.” Notably, the scope of Perdue’s so-called “exoneration” is unknown –– his campaign refused to provide a copy of his dismissal letter to the AJC, and more recent reporting has uncovered additional suspicious stock transactions that were never investigated. AJC: Georgia senators tout Ethics rulings, but panel rarely finds wrongdoing

DISQUALIFYING: LOEFFLER AND PERDUE BACK EFFORTS TO OVERTURN WILL OF GEORGIA VOTERS. This week, Senators Perdue and Loeffler backed the “brazen” out-of-state lawsuit asking “the U.S. Supreme court to toss out Georgia’s election results,” issuing a joint statement proclaiming they “fully support” the outrageous lawsuit that the Republican Attorney General of Georgia has called “constitutionally, legally and factually wrong.” What’s more, Perdue himself organized a call between Trump and Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr after Trump had called both Perdue and Loeffler to express his anger about Carr’s opposition to the lawsuit. Perdue and Loeffler’s refusal to stand up for Georgians and protect the will of the voters is utterly disqualifying.

WARNOCK AND OSSOFF WIN THEIR DEBATES AS LOEFFLER REFUSES TO ADMIT TRUMP LOST AND PERDUE REPLACED BY EMPTY PODIUM. Sunday night’s debate double-feature was a victory for both Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, as they both demonstrated that they are ready to serve Georgians in the Senate with integrity and strong leadership, while their opponents only continued to showcase how they are only out for themselves in Washington. Check out the highlights below: 

• Loeffler dodged on election results, stock trading, offshore tax havens. Loeffler repeatedly refused to admit that Trump lost November’s election and completely avoided a question about members of Congress trading individual stocks after her pandemic profiteering scandal earlier this year. Loeffler also declined to defend her record of helping the Big Banks take advantage of offshore tax havens in the Cayman Islands.

• Loeffler lied repeatedly, regurgitating scripted and debunked attacks against Reverend Warnock. Loeffler spent the debate repeating her contrived talking points about desperate and misleading attacks that Georgia reporters and independent fact-checkers found have “no proof.” Her attacks have been repeatedly ruled false and even called “disturbing” and “bogus,” but that didn’t stop her from using them in an attempt to distract from her own abysmal record.

• After losing his last debate, Perdue chickened out. Perdue refused to attend Sunday’s debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and instead was represented by an empty podium – an apt symbol for the six years he’s spent in Washington ducking accountability and hiding from Georgians. Jon Ossoff blasted Perdue for being unwilling to answer questions in front of voters about his toxic record because he was afraid of incriminating himself.

MUST-WATCH CLIP: PERDUE SLAMMED FOR “ACTIVELY AVOIDING TALKING TO THE PRESS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.” After being an “embarrassing” no-show at the debate, Senator Perdue was skewered on CNN for “actively avoiding talking to the press in any way, shape or form” as he travels to events with “only a select group” of people. CNN’s Kyung Lah called out Perdue for refusing to speak with reporters across Georgia, instead choosing to sit down with right-wing outlets like Newsmax peddling conspiracy theories and lies. WATCH:

KELLY IS FOR KELLY: NEW WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS LOEFFLER’S SELF-SERVING WAYS.   The Warnock campaign unveiled a new website to make sure Georgians can see for themselves how unelected Senator Kelly Loeffler continues to put herself first, creating a “minefield” of self-serving corruption and leaving hardworking Georgians out to dry. Take a look for yourself: KellyIsForKelly.com 

GEORGIA AD WATCH

• Reverend Raphael Warnock released two new TV ads highlighting his lifetime commitment to public service and how his faith has the ways that his faith has guided his work on behalf of the people of Georgia. Watch here and here. Reverend Warnock also released a new radio ad urging Georgians to make a plan to vote by highlighting the importance of the election. Listen here.

• Jon Ossoff released two more TV ads this week. One features Lawanda G., a mother from Douglasville, who shares the conversations she has had with her son about the risk to his life for being Black in America and Jon’s plan to fight for justice and equal protection under the law in the Senate. Watch here. Another calls out Senator Perdue for fighting against stimulus checks for hardworking Georgians and supporting slashing emergency unemployment relief. Watch here.

WHAT GEORGIANS ARE READING

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: In memo, Georgia Democrats outline Senate strategy for final push
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jon Ossoff debates empty podium
• Associated Press: In Georgia, Loeffler again refuses to say Trump lost
• Georgia Public Broadcasting/ProPublica: Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home To Someone Whose Organization Was Lobbying The Senate
• Fox 5: More than 60 organizations urge Sens. Loeffler, Perdue to support comprehensive COVID relief
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Loeffler, Perdue side with Texas lawsuit that Georgia AG says is ‘wrong’
• Georgia Public Broadcasting: BATTLEGROUND BLOG: Perdue, Loeffler Support Longshot Efforts To Overturn Georgia’s Elections
• Project Q Atlanta: Sen. Kelly Loeffler donates to two anti-LGBTQ groups in Georgia
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: OPINION: Loeffler ads attacking Warnock reveal more about her than him 
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Ossoff to launch statewide bus tour as early voting begins
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ‘Elf’ cast reunites for virtual Georgia Senate race fundraiser for Democrats
• Georgia Public Broadcasting: INTERVIEW: Ossoff Talks LGBTQ+ Issues, Solo Debate — And Outkast
• WJBF: Georgia Democrats push for absentee and early voting
• WFXG: Democrat State Representatives encourage people to vote for Warnock and Ossoff in Senate runoffs
• 11Alive: VERIFY: Jon Ossoff was not endorsed by Communist Party USA or funded by Chinese government
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: BREAKING: Biden to campaign in Atlanta on Tuesday for Ossoff, Warnock
• WGXA: Jon Ossoff visits Macon to encourage Georgians to early vote
• Gwinnett Daily Post: Latino voters take the spotlight as Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs approach
• AP: Source of money behind GOP’s new Georgia super PAC a mystery
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Republican lawsuit would limit use of ballot drop boxes in Georgia

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Lauren Passalacqua
@laurenvpass

Stewart Boss
@stew_boss

Helen Kalla
@helen_kalla

Shea Necheles
@sheanecheles

Regina Anderson
@reginasopinion

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