Current Events > Brian Kemp fabricated a hacking scandal just before the election

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https://bit.ly/2CgqxU1

Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor, had a problem. As did Brian Kemp, Georgias secretary of state.

It was Nov. 3, a Saturday, 72 hours to Election Day. Virtually tied in the polls with Democrat Stacey Abrams, Kemp was in danger of becoming the first Georgia Republican to lose a statewide election since 2006. And, now, a new threat. The secretary of states office had left its voter-registration system exposed online, opening Kemp to criticism that he couldnt secure an election that featured him in the dual roles of candidate and overseer.

But by the next day, Kemp and his aides had devised one solution for both problems, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.They publicly accused the Democratic Party of Georgia of trying to hack into the voter database in a failed attempt to steal the election. The announcement added last-minute drama to an already contentious campaign. More important, it also pre-empted scrutiny of the secretary of states own missteps while initiating a highly unusual criminal investigation into his political rivals.

But no evidence supported the allegations against the Democrats at the time, and none has emerged in the six weeks since, the Journal-Constitution found. It appears unlikely that any crime occurred.

There was no way a reasonable person would conclude this was an attempted attack, said Matthew Bernhard, a computer scientist at the University of Michigan who has consulted with plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Georgias use of outdated touch-screen voting machines.

To reconstruct the campaigns final weekend, the Journal-Constitution interviewed more than 15 people computer security experts, political operatives, lawyers and others and reviewed court filings and other public records. That examination suggests Kemp and his aides used his elected office to protect his political campaign from a potentially devastating embarrassment.

Their unsubstantiated claims came at a pivotal moment, as voters were making their final decisions in an election that had attracted intense national attention.

The race seemed to turn on whether rapid demographic changes coupled with dislike of Kemps most prominent supporter, President Donald Trump would help break the Republicans hold on political power in Georgia. Kemp was a typical Georgia Republican standard bearer: conservative, business-oriented, an abortion-rights opponent and a gun-rights advocate. Abrams was different: the first African-American and the first woman nominated for the states highest office, an unapologetic progressive appealing to young and minority voters who felt disenfranchised.

Ultimately, Kemp won with 50.2 percent of the nearly 4 million votes cast. In Georgias closest race for governor since 1966, any voters swayed by a purported Democratic cyberattack could have tipped the election.

The episode highlighted the inherent conflicts that Kemp straddled throughout this election. He rejected calls to resign as secretary of state or to step away from election-related duties, despite concerns that he could use his elected office to his campaigns advantage. When he assigned his own staff to investigate his opponents, Democrats say, Kemp proved their point.

He was doing anything he could do to win, said Rebecca DeHart, executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia. It was an extraordinary abuse of power.

In his only public statement on the investigation, Kemp said his office handled the case like any other. Because I can assure you if I hadnt done anything and the story came out that something was going on, youd be going, Why didnt you act? Kemp said on the elections eve.

Im not worried about how it looks, he said. Im doing my job.

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Republicans lie cheat and steal to win
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Shocking /sarcasm
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This seems like a running theme. "Democrats cheat, so we have to cheat". But then it's just the pubs.
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CADE FOSTER posted...

democrats lie cheat and steal to win

Truth

It's sad to see that our system allows this to happen
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Can Republicans be trusted?
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MorbidFaithless posted...

Can Republicans be trusted?

No
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just another CONservative
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This is so shocking
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MorbidFaithless posted...

Can Republicans be trusted?

We can trust in Trump. The others are questionable.
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The Republican Party does not deserve to continue to exist
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