By Paul Sperry RealClearInvestigations:
A nonprofit based by Georgia Democratic politician Stacey Abrams to guard voting rights paid greater than $20 million to a lawyer who’s an in depth buddy and helped arrange two of her personal companies, in response to tax and state incorporation filings and different information obtained by RealClearInvestigations.
Abrams’ Honest Battle Motion redirected the tax-exempt donations and authorities grants to Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, her former marketing campaign chair between 2019 and 2023. Many of the funds coated authorized bills charged by the boutique regulation agency Lawrence-Hardy co-founded, for a failed race-bias lawsuit filed in opposition to Abram’s Republican opponent, Gov. Brian Kemp, after she misplaced to him in Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election.
In its articles of incorporation, Honest Battle Motion Inc. states that “The Company is not going to be operated for the pecuniary acquire or revenue of any particular person.” Additionally they stated no revenues will likely be “distributed” to any particular person besides when “approved to pay cheap compensation for providers rendered.”
The nonprofit’s payout to her buddy’s regulation agency, which averaged greater than $4 million every year over these 5 years, raised eyebrows and conflict-of-interest issues amongst ethics watchdogs briefed by RCI.
“Twenty million in charges is outrageous,” stated Paul Kamenar, counsel for the Nationwide Authorized and Coverage Heart. “It might be an IRS violation for waste of nonprofit belongings, in addition to self-dealing and different moral and authorized breaches.”
“At a minimal hiring her buddy as lead lawyer presents a obvious battle of curiosity, as a result of Abrams’ shut affiliation with each the Honest Battle case and her buddy supplied a possibility to complement her buddy via the nonprofit’s litigation.”
He and different authorized specialists say the prices to litigate the case had been extravagant in contrast with different voting-rights instances fought in federal court docket. The state of Georgia paid lower than $6 million complete to its regulation companies defending the state within the case.
The unusually excessive authorized payments helped drive Honest Battle Motion greater than $2.5 million into debt final 12 months, forcing the group to put off the vast majority of its employees.
School Mates
Abrams’ and Lawrence-Hardy’s friendship dates again to their days as college students at Spelman School. They’ve additionally arrange companies collectively, state information reveal.
Though there is no such thing as a proof that Abrams benefited immediately from the charges paid to Lawrence-Hardy’s regulation agency, Abrams holds an possession curiosity in no less than two Atlanta-based firms that had been included by Lawrence-Hardy. Lawrence-Hardy and Abrams have additionally shared the identical workplace suite in Atlanta for a number of years.
Neither Lawrence-Hardy nor Abrams responded to requests for remark.
In her 2022 e book, “Stage Up: Rise Above The Hidden Forces Holding Your Enterprise Again,” Abrams acknowledged Lawrence-Hardy as somebody who has supported her enterprise ventures. “Sustaining the pursuit of a enterprise ambition calls for all method of funding – undoubtedly monetary capital, however much less usually lauded, copious quantities of endurance, forbearance and forgiveness,” Abrams wrote. “I admire these coming in abundance from these named and unnamed, together with … Allegra Lawrence-Hardy.”
The IRS declined to touch upon whether or not it’s investigating Honest Battle Motion. It has acquired a number of complaints prior to now which define the blurry traces between Abrams’ connection to nonprofits that appeared to advance her political profession. In 2019, the company acquired a criticism in regards to the nonprofit from the Basis for Accountability and Civic Belief (FACT) over allegations that Honest Battle was utilizing cash raised to advance voting rights to help Abrams’ political ambitions, together with paying a few of her journey bills, operating $100,000 in Fb advertisements that includes Abrams, and supporting a “Stacey Abrams Fundraiser.” The IRS didn’t say if or how this case was resolved.
Together with the Georgia Senate, the IRS is actively investigating one other nonprofit began by Abrams, the New Georgia Mission, which didn’t report hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in contributions and spending tied to Abrams’ first gubernatorial bid in 2018. Abrams additionally misplaced to Kemp in a 2022 rematch.
The profitable Honest Battle deal for her buddy provides to moral issues over Abrams, who has a checkered monetary background and but has amassed hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in wealth working principally within the public and nonprofit sectors, as RCI has reported beforehand. Abrams has presidential ambitions and goals to change into the primary black feminine U.S. president by 2040.
Political Allies
Lawrence-Hardy chaired her marketing campaign in each the 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial elections, which implies she was litigating the voting-rights case whereas operating her second marketing campaign. Kristen Wilder, Lawrence-Hardy’s longtime chief of employees, beforehand labored because the senior political supervisor at Honest Battle Motion. Wilder additionally labored on Abrams’ gubernatorial marketing campaign.
Abrams headed Honest Battle in 2018 when it employed Lawrence-Hardy’s agency as lead counsel within the case, Honest Battle Motion v. Raffensperger. The go well with claimed that the Georgia secretary of state’s workplace denied minorities the appropriate to vote. The litigation promoted Abrams’ allegations that she was “robbed” of victory by Kemp, whom she claimed had “disenfranchised” blacks via discriminatory voting guidelines. In the course of the trial, Lawrence-Hardy argued, “It is a modern-day Jim Crow.” The lawsuit would assist flip Abrams right into a nationwide political determine and superstar, a logo of resistance to President Trump and a pacesetter of the rising Black Lives Matter motion.
However in September 2022, a federal court docket disagreed, dismissing the case and ordering Honest Battle to pay greater than $231,000 in court docket prices and authorized charges.
The lawsuit was all the time an extended shot. To succeed, Honest Battle needed to show intentional discrimination within the state’s election legal guidelines and practices. In his ruling, U.S. District Choose Steve C. Jones – an Obama appointee – dominated that Honest Battle failed to offer “direct proof of a voter who was unable to vote” due to the state’s allegedly racist election legal guidelines.
However, tax information present that Lawrence-Hardy’s agency earned a gentle stream of charges. In 2019, her Atlanta-based agency, Lawrence & Bundy LLC, billed Honest Battle $3.1 million, in response to IRS filings. In 2020, when the nonprofit’s revenues peaked at $51 million, the agency billed the nonprofit its largest price quantity – $6.4 million – for “authorized providers.” In 2022, her agency was paid an extra $5 million, after receiving $4.4 million in charges from Honest Battle in 2021, regardless of the case shrinking as Choose Jones dismissed massive sections of the lawsuit. In keeping with a 2023 IRS return filed by Honest Battle Motion, the most recent accessible doc, Lawrence & Bundy LLC acquired greater than $1.3 million in authorized charges that 12 months, regardless of the election lawsuit being dismissed the earlier 12 months. Lawrence-Hardy is a founding companion of Lawrence & Bundy LLC.
All advised over these 5 years, Lawrence-Hardy and her agency acquired $20.2 million largely for his or her work on a single, dropping election-integrity lawsuit in opposition to the state of Georgia, which critics referred to as “frivolous” and designed to attempt to clarify away Abrams’ back-to-back gubernatorial election losses in 2018 and 2022.
Abrams was not solely concerned in retaining Lawrence-Hardy but additionally helped fundraise for the case till December 2021, when she stepped down from Honest Battle’s board to announce her second bid for governor. As Honest Battle’s CEO, Abrams was paid an annual wage of $80,000.
Cozy Workplace Area
Lawrence & Bundy LLC, whose web site lists 15 attorneys, was based by Lawrence-Hardy in 2016. Its Atlanta workplaces are positioned at 1180 W. Peachtree St. NW, Suite 1650. That is the situation the place Honest Battle despatched the $20.2 million, in response to IRS paperwork. It’s the similar handle for 2 companies which can be no less than partially owned by Abrams.
In keeping with Georgia state incorporation information, one of many entities, Davis Corridor LLC, was registered in February 2011 by Lawrence & Bundy LLC; whereas the opposite, Corridor Davis LLC, was registered in January 2021 by the identical agent – Lawrence & Bundy LLC. Each entities are listed by Abrams in her 2022 Georgia state monetary disclosure assertion as enterprise entities during which she holds an possession curiosity of 5% or extra. It isn’t clear what the companies do. Abrams and Lawrence & Bundy declined to say.
A 3rd enterprise owned by Abrams, Sage Works LLC, lists the identical enterprise handle as the opposite firms – 1180 W. Peachtree St. NW, Suite 1650, which is the handle for Lawrence & Bundy LLC.
Abrams based Sage Works LLC as a consulting agency “offering recommendation to governmental and nonprofit purchasers on operations,” in response to her disclosures. Information present she was paid $62,000 in taxpayer cash as a marketing consultant on an Atlanta city redevelopment challenge, which raised purple flags as a result of she was a state lawmaker on the time.
“These companies increase extra suspicion that Abrams used her nonprofit [Fair Fight] to complement her buddies and herself,” Kamenar stated, “which is a transparent battle of curiosity.”
Lawrence-Hardy is an lively member of the Georgia bar in “good standing” with no disciplinary historical past. She is at present listed as co-managing companion at a bigger Atlanta-based agency, Krevolin Horst LLC, the place she focuses on “high-profile/excessive stakes litigation.” She remains to be featured all through the Lawrence & Bundy web site.
Honest Battle stated it employed Lawrence-Hardy due to her experience in election regulation, each on the state and federal ranges, alongside together with her expertise litigating prior Democratic candidate recounts.
Lawrence-Hardy maintained that the lawsuit was all the time in regards to the voters, not the cash. Voting rights is a trigger pricey to her, in response to her web site bio, although she didn’t select to take the case professional bono as she has different instances.
It stays unclear why the lawsuit incurred such a excessive value.
On the time, Lawrence-Hardy stated the case required massive sources. She led a group of just about three dozen attorneys, together with some from outdoors her agency. In the course of the trial, she stated she deposed a “staggering quantity” of witnesses within the case: “We had greater than 3,000 voters or would-be voters submit declarations, 50 witnesses and a whole bunch who gave depositions.”
But regardless of a number of years of billing Honest Battle, Lawrence-Hardy discovered no proof of voter discrimination, in response to the court docket. Nonetheless, Lawrence-Hardy on her web site lists the case amongst her largest skilled accomplishments, arguing she initially “defeated defendants’ movement for abstract judgment.”
The IRS filings don’t break down the authorized bills charged within the case. Neither Lawrence-Hardy nor Honest Battle would share billing information to know the precise nature of the work carried out through the drawn-out authorized battle. Additionally they wouldn’t reveal the hourly price charged by Lawrence-Hardy’s agency. Authorized charges are usually billed on an hourly foundation and seem in a line-by-line accounting on statements to purchasers.
Now working within the purple, Honest Battle isn’t pleased that the Trump administration is reducing federal spending for left-leaning non-governmental organizations. Earlier this 12 months, the embattled group protested Trump’s freezing of tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in federal election-security grants.
BREAKING: Information Reveal Stacey Abrams Funneled $20.2 million from Her Nonprofit to Lawyer Pal Who Helped Set Up Her Non-public Companieshttps://t.co/hcPser7V7P
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) June 5, 2025
This RealClearInvestigations article was republished by The Gateway Pundit with permission.
Paul Sperry is the previous D.C. bureau chief for Investor’s Enterprise Every day, Hoover Establishment media fellow, writer of a number of books, together with bestseller INFILTRATION
