Our runner-up for 2023’s Story of the Year isn’t nearly as fun as Coffee High’s state title. No, this one is story of the year for all the wrong reasons.
Did it put Coffee County on the map? Yes. Did it bring visitors from all over the world to our community? Yes. Have some of the most powerful people in the United States been paying attention to our little community? Yes again.
Has all this attention been positive? Not a chance.
I am, of course, talking about what has become known at the Fulton 19 investigation. This is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s investigation into former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In the middle of this investigation are the breaches of the Coffee County elections office in early 2021. The breaches happened when Trump campaign allies allegedly copied Coffee County’s election servers then left with them. The individuals who visited the elections office were not election officials and were not authorized to be in the office.
Willis’s investigation involves much more than the Coffee County breaches. However, what happened in locally figures prominently in her pursuit of Trump and his allies. In August of 2023, after over a year of investigating the matter, Willis announced 19 indictments under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Among those indicted were Trump, his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, former Coffee County Republican Party chair Cathy Latham, and former Coffee County elections superintendent Misty Hampton. All were booked into the Fulton County Jail.
Since the indictments were handed down, four individuals have pleaded guilty to various charges and agreed to assist Willis in the investigation: Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, Scott Hall, and Kenneth Chesebro. Last month, Giuliani was also found liable of defaming two Fulton County poll workers and ordered to pay $148 million in damages. He promptly filed bankruptcy as a result of the judgment.
What’s interesting is that this story has generated very little local interest; most of the publicity and outrage has come from out of county (even out of state). While most Coffee Countians aren’t very interested in the story, never before has our community been a part of a national narrative for so long.
And it’s not going away; last week I received a call from a Dutch news crew that is interested in visiting Douglas for a follow-up story (they were here once before in July).
This particular story still has more questions than answers. Ultimately, Willis wants Trump and his inner circle. How far is she willing to go and who else would she like to take with him? What ramifications have the breaches had on elections since they took place? The GBI has completed a second criminal investigation into the breaches and turned its findings over to state attorney general Chris Carr; what will he do with the agency’s findings? Will more defendants be charged?
These are but a few of the many, many questions that remain unanswered.
The various investigations into this matter began in 2022. We are entering our third calendar year of dealing with the fallout from what happened in January of 2021. The only thing that is certain is that it isn’t going away — whether Coffee Countians are interested or not.