- New texts shed light upon the thoughts of Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia runoffs and January 6.
- She directed her aides not to tweet a statement she made expressing opposition to the 2020 results.
- However, after the violence, an assistant advised her to refrain from objecting to it due to “reputational danger.”
According to new texts, former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia worried privately about her decision not to accept the results of the 2020 presidential elections. Obtained and verified by Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Facing a high-stakes run-off election against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on January 5 — the results of which would determine control of the United States Senate — Loeffler and her aides reportedlyFearful that her announcements could distract attention from her opponent
But she also faced pressure from former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies — including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — to go along with the plan.
Loeffler aide Wes Coopersmith wrote in a January 2 message, “I believe that you can’t afford not to be on it,”
Loeffler ultimately Statement released on January 4 — one day before the run-off election and two days before the date that Congress was set to certify the results — announcing she would “vote to give President Trump and the American people the fair hearing they deserve” by objecting.
According to texts, the senator seemed concerned that word wouldn’t get out in time for Trump’s rally that evening.
“Please ensure Trump RTs this statement so that I don’t get booed off of the stage!” Just hours before the rally, she texted Stephen Lawson and Taylor Brown their aides.
—Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) January 4, 2021
Loeffler went on to lose the election to Warnock, ending a tenure that lasted just over a year since Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to the seat after the death of Sen. Johnny Isakson.
Georgia Republican was also among several senators who chose to ignore their objections to election results following the violence at the Capitol on January 6. Declaring in a floor speechThat she was subject to “violence” as well as “lawlessness” caused her to reconsider.
These texts are a few of the things she and her team considered.
“This isn’t what we signed up to,” said Malorie Thompson, an aide. She also stated that objections had “gone too far.”
Another aide, Paul Fitzpatrick, warned Loeffler via text that she and her husband — Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange — could face “long term reputational risk” for continuing her objection.
Caitlin O’Dea, a Loeffler spokesperson, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the texts were “desperate attempts to distract voters twenty days before the election,” but she did not seem to refute them.
