(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler has taken a break from shouting about “trained Marxists” to shout about her Republican opponent Doug Collins helping defendants exercise their constitutional right to representation by counsel.
“Before he became a politician, Doug Collins was a criminal defense lawyer,” warns her latest campaign ad. “On his website, he advertised directly to sex offenders! Drug dealers! Even murderers!”
Very subtle. As is Loeffler’s accusation that Collins “teamed up with Stacey Abrams to reduce prison time for violent criminals.” She also touts her endorsement by 12 Georgia sheriffs — which is only 16 fewer than Collins got.
Before running for congress, Congressman Collins was a criminal lawyer in private practice at a firm which had — GASP! — a website. And unlike Senator Southern Strategy, his clients weren’t accused of insider trading. In fact, all four of the cases Loeffler mentions in her ad were indigent defendants assigned to Collins’s firm by the court.
Or, as Loeffler’s press secretary Caitlin O’Dea put it, “As a criminal defense attorney, Doug Collins was putting his paycheck above the safety of Georgia families.” Later she tweeted that, “Doug Collins would be better off running for Mayor of Portland or Chicago where his record of lawlessness would be applauded by the woke mob and liberal electorate.”
Loeffler’s posturing as the real “law and order candidate” seems to rest on an imperfect understanding of the Constitution. In her telling, lawyers who provide the “Assistance of Counsel” guaranteed to criminal defendants by the Sixth Amendment are “siding with criminals instead of holding them accountable.”
Which may not endear her to the fourteen percent of Georgians who live below the federal poverty line and are unlikely to be able to afford a white shoe law firm. Not to mention the twenty-two percent of her constituents who are African American and cannot have missed that Loeffler attempted to criticize Collins by linking him to the most famous Black politician in the state.
“Accusation equals conviction if your bank balance does not have enough zeros in it,” Collins’ spokesman Dan McLagan told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, alluding to Loeffler’s enormous personal wealth. As if anyone in Georgia could forget that Governor Kemp appointed to Loeffler to fill out retiring Senator Johnny Isakson’s term after she promised to spend $20 million of her own money on the campaign.
And despite throwing a mountain of cash at this race, Loeffler has consistently trailed Collins, a longtime Georgia politician who has deep roots in the state. Because some things can’t be bought for love or money.
But for only $10.99, Loeffler could buy a copy of U.S. Constitution for Dummies on Amazon. Which would be a lot cheaper, and save her a whole lot of embarrassment.
GEORGIA SHERIFFS DENOUNCE DOUG COLLINS’ CRIMINAL DEFENSE HISTORY [KellyForSenate.com]
Loeffler’s campaign ups attacks on Collins’ legal record despite criticism [AJC]
Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.