Politics

Kemp’s Office Seeks FBI Help to Probe ‘Cybercrimes’ by Democrats

LAST-MINUTE CHARADES

Kemp’s Democratic opponent in Georgia's gubernatorial race calls the investigation a “desperate” distraction attempt.

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Letitia Stein/Reuters

The office of Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp—the Republican gubernatorial nominee embroiled in a close race to be the next chief executive of the state—said Sunday that it has launched an investigation into “possible cyber crimes” by the Democratic Party and also asked the FBI to investigate. “We opened an investigation into the Democratic Party of Georgia after receiving information from our legal team about failed efforts to breach the online voter registration system,” Candice Broce, Kemp’s press secretary, said in a statement on Sunday afternoon. Georgia’s Democratic Party denied any attempted hacking, calling the announcement by Kemp’s office an “11th hour, cynical ploy” and “political stunt” on the eve of elections. The timing of the announcement, just two days before elections, provoked skepticism from Democrat Stacey Abrams, Kemp’s opponent in the governor’s race, who called it a “desperate attempt” to “distract” voters. Abrams told CNN on Sunday that Kemp is “desperate to turn the conversation away from his failures” and his role in a “nationwide system of voter suppression.” A federal judge ruled against Kemp Friday and said that more than 3,000 people, mostly minorities, who’d been deemed ineligible to vote in Georgia must be allowed to go to the polls. On the same day, a federal appeals court rejected a request from Kemp that would’ve allowed the state to toss absentee ballots over signature issues.

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