Stacey Abrams' voting group accused of 'poor financial record-keeping': report
The New Georgia Project has frequently come under investigation for financial misuse and fraud
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The New Georgia Project, a voting rights organization founded by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, continues to be marred with controversy and financial mismanagement allegations.
Politico released the results of its six-month investigation into the organization, noting that one of its board chairs, Frank Wilson, has already launched an internal probe of the finances.
"The move comes as the group’s tax filings indicate that its former executive director — who was hand-picked by Abrams in 2014 but fired last year without notice — owes the organization thousands of dollars in ‘non-work-related’ reimbursements," Politico reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nsé Ufot, the former director, referred to the allegations as "a f---ing lie."
The New Georgia Project has come under heavy scrutiny over the last few years. (Getty Images)
"The New Georgia Project didn’t properly track company expenses that were allegedly prepaid to employees on Visa gift cards and failed to account for salary advances and other expenditures, according to a review of financial disclosures, internal documents and interviews with 12 current and former employees, including senior leadership," Politico wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The report added, "Management disarray was compounded by infighting. Multiple former employees claimed the organization had a toxic work environment that became unnecessarily stressful and fomented distrust between staffers. Frustrations often erupted in private Signal group chats."
The group is also under a state ethics investigation over "whether its election advocacy violated rules limiting direct political activity by nonprofits, which it has sued to terminate, and a dispute with the IRS over payment of payroll taxes."
Though the Politico report offered new insights into the financial allegations, Abrams’ voting rights group has faced a number of controversies since its founding in 2014.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2014. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
During 2014, then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp investigated the group for fraud in its efforts to register more than 100,000 minority voters before the midterm elections. In 2020, current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched a new investigation into whether the New Georgia Project was guilty of registering "ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters."
Tax forms also showed that the group received nearly $500,000 in a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan back in May 2020. This loan came despite the New Georgia Project taking in $24.5 million in donations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We’re going to do a forensic look at our records," Wilson assured Politico. "We’ll start at the beginning, and just lay it out, clean it up and redirect as necessary … so we’ll be in a position where anybody who will come — be it authorities, be it media, be it whomever — we will not be concerned about who looks at our records because we’ll have all our i’s dotted and t’s crossed. So I’m comfortable with that, you know, and I’ll almost welcome it."
Fox News Digital reached out to the New Georgia Project for a comment.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion, and channel coverage, visit foxnews.1eye.us/media.