Americans should be very concerned about 'weaponized' DOJ: Georgia AG Carr on 'America's Newsroom'

Georgia AG Carr: Americans should be ‘very concerned’ seeing DOJ ‘weaponized’

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr pushes back against the Biden Justice Department’s lawsuit against the state’s voting law.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr slammed the lawsuit filed by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice against the state’s new election law on Monday, arguing that it “is just a blatantly political lawsuit.” 

“In fact, I’ve said it is not a lawsuit, it’s a campaign flyer,” Carr told “America’s Newsroom” on Monday. “The Department of Justice is simply playing politics.” 

“They are not upholding the rule of law and this blatantly political action taken by the United States Department of Justice is factually, legally and constitutionally wrong,” he continued. 

Carr also argued that “Americans should be very concerned seeing the Department of Justice being weaponized” by “political activists who just don’t like how Georgia is doing its business.” 

Carr made the comments pushing back against the DOJ’s decision to sue the state over its new Election Integrity Act. The department made the announcement on Friday, alleging Republican state lawmakers rushed through a sweeping overhaul with an intent to deny Black voters equal access to the ballot.

“Where we believe the rights of civil rights of Americans have been violated we will not hesitate to act,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. 

Georgia’s new voting law has received heavy criticism from Democrats and large corporations over the last few months due to the expansive powers granted to the state over local election offices. Among the most high-profile provisions of the controversial new election law is a change in how the state verifies the identity of voters who request and cast absentee ballots. The law eliminates signature matching and requires an ID to vote, if an individual has one. 

This change has been criticized by many as likely to make it more difficult for Georgians, specifically minorities who are more likely to vote Democratic, to vote by mail. However, the law also provides Georgia voters who don’t have a photo ID with a plethora of different options to confirm their identity when requesting a ballot.

Host Dana Perino noted that the DOJ’s lawsuit announced on Friday “is the eighth lawsuit that has been filed over the Georgia law.”

Carr told Perino that he believes that “anybody who will actually read the Georgia law sees its strength and security.” 

“It expands access and it improves transparency and that’s why we will be successful defending this particular action as we will the other seven,” he continued. 

Perino then pointed to the “communications” of the situation and asked Carr, “Is there anything you can do to help reassure Black Americans in Georgia that this was not meant to harm them?” 

Carr responded by saying that in “no way, shape or form was it” meant to harm them. 

“I think it’s important to note Attorney General Garland came into office saying he was going to depoliticize the Justice Department,” he continued. “Falsely claiming that people of color are going to have their vote either not count or somehow they’re not going to be able to vote is disingenuous at best and patently false and wrong at worst.” 

Carr then said, “I think Americans should be very concerned seeing the Department of Justice being weaponized, as our Governor Brian Kemp said, weaponized by political activists who just don’t like how Georgia is doing its business.” 

Carr warned that “today it may be Georgia” but similar actions could be taken against another state’s laws in the near future.

On Friday, Kemp issued a statement responding to the Department of Justice lawsuit saying, “This lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia’s Election Integrity Act from the start.” 

 “Joe Biden, [former Democrat Georgia State Rep.] Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress – and failed,” Kemp continued. “Now, they are weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy.” 

Spokespeople with the Department of Justice and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. 

Fox News’ Tyler Olson, Kelly Laco and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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