Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abramsâ nonprofit paid more than $20 million to her close friendâs law firm, adding to her questionable financial history, tax filings show.
Abramsâ voting rights advocacy group Fair Fight Action paid approximately $20.2 million between 2019 and 2023 to Lawrence & Bundy, a law firm that former Abrams campaign chair Allegra Lawrence-Hardy established and worked for until she left in February, according to her LinkedIn profile and documents first reported by RealClearInvestigations. Fair Fight Actionâs governing documents filed with the state of Georgia require that the organization âwill not be operated for the pecuniary gain or profit of any individual.â
The payments in total amount to $20,201,857 for unspecified âlegal services,â according to tax filings reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Abramsâ press team and Lawrence-Hardy did not respond to the DCNFâs requests for comment.
Lawrence-Hardy told Politico in 2022 that she and Abrams were classmates in college, and that they became âvery good friendsâ while working at an Atlanta-based law firm early in their careers. Lawrence-Hardy chaired both of Abramsâ failed gubernatorial campaigns in 2018 and 2022, according to RealClearInvestigations.
Abrams has maintained that racist voter suppression in Georgia stole the 2018 election from her. Lawrence-Hardyâs firm represented Fair Fight Action in a 2018 lawsuit against the state that alleged Georgiaâs election system was racially discriminatory, but a judge found the lawsuitâs claims baseless in 2022 and closed the case.
The case contributed to mounting legal expenses that drove Far Fight Action into $2.5 million in debt by 2024, prompting a wave of staff layoffs, The New York Times reported.
Abrams has led multiple nonprofits accused of suspicious or unethical financial activity. A voter registration group she founded called Third Sector Development has been hit with multiple tax liens in Georgia. New Georgia Project, another of her voter advocacy groups, received a $300,000 fine from the state in January for failing to disclose money it spent on her campaign, and a watchdog group also filed an IRS complaint against Fair Fight Action in 2019 alleging that the group was illegally promoting Abramsâ political career under the guise of a voting rights cause.
Additionally, the Biden administration also drew criticism for giving billions of taxpayer dollars to a coalition of groups that included the Abrams-linked group Fair Count.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in April that Abrams was weighing a third run for governor.
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