Elections
Rev. Warnock allegedly ‘extremely uncooperative’ during 2002 child-abuse investigation, police records reveal
One of the Democratic candidates in Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoff elections, Rev. Raphael Warnock, allegedly obstructed a police investigation into child abuse at a church-affiliated summer camp, according to state police records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Fox News reported Friday.
Warnock was “extremely uncooperative and disruptive” of the 2002 probe, and he demanded that the camp’s attorneys should be present when officers were interviewing the camp counselors, according to the documents. This is despite the fact that the counselors could only request a lawyer for themselves, whereas Warnock could not do so on their behalf. The Democratic senatorial candidate was senior pastor of the church that operated the camp at that time.
Warnock, the pastor at the same Atlanta baptist church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had also been a pastor, is running against incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in a runoff for one of Georgia’s two Senate seats up for election on January 5. While both elections will take place on that date, voters can begin casting early ballots this Monday.
During a December 7 debate between the two opponents, Warnock called Loeffler “a liar” when she claimed he had been arrested for obstructing a probe into child abuse.
“[I was] working at trying to make sure that young people who were being questioned by law enforcement had the benefit of counsel, a lawyer or a parent,” Warnock explained. “The law enforcement officers actually later thanked me for my cooperation and for helping them.”
One of the reverend’s campaign officials defended Warnock to Fox News, saying the fact checks reveal that Loeffler’s obstruction allegations were not accurate.
“This is yet another one of Senator Loeffler’s lowest of the low attacks that independent fact checkers have said is ‘mostly false,'” the Warnock campaign’s rapid response director, Michael Brewer, told Fox News. “The truth is he was protecting the rights of young people to make sure they had a lawyer or a parent when being questioned. Law enforcement officials later praised him for his help in this investigation.”
The names in the 18-year-old police record have been redacted, however, the reports line up with news articles about the incident, which led to Warnock’s arrest, according to Fox News. The two unnamed ministers, whom the criminal complaint was filed against, are only referred to in the documents as “the reverends.”
At the request of a prosecutor, it should be noted, criminal charges were later dropped. “Miscommunication” is what the prosecutor assigned blame.
On July 31, 2002, investigators arrived at Camp Farthest Out in Eldersberg, Maryland. Police reports described how the two reverends allegedly disrupted interviews.
“This investigator informed [camp administrators] that if the counselors requested that an attorney be present that was their right, however, no one else could [invoke] their rights to an attorney on their behalf,” the report reads.
Notably, the arrest of Warnock and his colleague Rev. Mark Andre Wright after being charged with obstructing a police investigation at the camp was reported in a 2002 Baltimore Sun article, according to Fox News.
Neither of the clergymen, a state trooper assigned to the case said, were suspected of being involved in the original criminal complaint that brought the police to the camp.
The officer would not describe the nature of the abuse, but Warnock later said it was not sexual and refused to comment further, per Fox News.
Want more details from this story? Click here to read the full original Fox News report here.
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
What was anticipated to take up to two weeks has concluded in only three days. 12 jurors have been chosen for the trial against former President Donald Trump, who has been charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges surround alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts, stating the trial is “political persecution.” The former president is expected to testify during his trial, and Fox News has published a list with what is known of the individuals:
Juror #1 and the foreperson: lives in New York City but is originally from Ireland. He has no children and enjoys doing anything outdoorsy. He gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC.
When asked by Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche if he was aware Trump is charged in other cases and jurisdictions, and how that affects him, the man said, “I don’t have an opinion.”
Juror #2 Is a man who said he follows Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, as well as other “right wing” accounts, including former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.
The reason, he said, he follows those figures was so he could be plugged in to “anything that might move the markets I might need to know about.”
When asked if he would unfollow Cohen, as he may be a witness in the trial, the man said: “absolutely.”
The man also said he has “not seen any evidence” relating to the case.
“I will try to keep an open mind,” he said.
Responding to questions from Trump lawyer Susan Necheles about his feelings about the former president, the man said that Trump has done some good for the country.
“It’s ambivalent,” he said. “It goes both ways.”
The first person who was labeled juror #2 was excused Thursday morning after saying she could not be a fair juror.
Juror #3 is a young to middle-aged Asian man who lives in Manhattan. The man said he grew up in Oregon and has been an attorney for five years practicing corporate law. The man said he enjoys hiking and running, and gets his news from The New York Times and Google.
Juror #4 is originally from California, but has lived in New York City for 15 years. The man said he has been a security engineer for 25 years and holds a high school diploma, with some college education.
The man is married with three children. His wife is a teacher.
During his spare time, he enjoys being with his children, woodworking, and metal working.
The man said he has served on a jury before — on both a grand jury and a jury in a criminal trial.
The man said he gets his news from “a smattering” of news sources. As for social media, he said he doesn’t use it.
The man said he has a relative who works in finance and brothers-in-law that work as lawyers.
The man said he has no feelings about how Trump is being treated in this case.
The person who was first labeled as Juror #4 was excused Thursday morning after it was revealed that he had been previously arrested in Westchester, N.Y., for tearing down right-wing political advertisements.
Juror #5 is young and a New York native who has been a teacher of English Language Arts for eight years.
The woman was previously a caseworker at a juvenile detention center. She said she has a masters’ degree in education.
“I’m creative at heart,” she said, adding that she enjoys photography.
The woman said that she is not married and does not have children. Her mother was an administrative aide for a police department, and her godfather was a homicide detective.
The woman said she gets her news from Google and TikTok.
She was asked if Trump chose not to testify, whether she would hold that against him.
“I won’t hold that against him,” she said.
She explained that she has friends who have strong opinions on the former president but said she is not a political person and tries to avoid political conversations.
She did say, however, that she appreciates Trump’s candor.
“President Trump speaks his mind, and I’d rather that than someone who’s in office who you don’t know what they’re thinking,” she said.
When jurors were asked if they were aware Trump was charged in other cases than Bragg’s, most jurors were. However, juror #5 raised her hand to indicate that she was learning of additional charges for the first time.
Juror #6 is a young woman who lives in Manhattan. She described herself as a New Yorker. The woman is a software engineer and said she likes to dance.
Juror #7 is originally from North Carolina and works as an attorney and civil litigator.
The man said he is married with two children, and his wife works in risk management for a bank. He said he enjoys spending time outdoors and with his family.
The man said he gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post and the Washington Post.
When asked if his career as a lawyer would impact his ability to serve fair and impartially, or whether his opinions would get in his way, the man said that he does have “political views as to the Trump presidency” and said there were likely Trump administration policies he disagreed with.
“I don’t know the man and I don’t have any opinions about him personally,” he said.
As for his career as a lawyer, he said he does not have any opinions about Trump’s character.
“I certainly follow the news,” he said. “I’m aware there are other lawsuits out there. But I’m not sure that I know anyone’s character.”
Juror #8 has been selected. Information on this juror is not yet available.
Juror #9 is a woman who lives in Manhattan. She is originally from New Jersey and works as a speech therapist.
The woman is not married and does not have children. She said she likes to spend time with friends, go to restaurants, and go on walks.
The woman said she has never served on a jury before, and does not watch the news or follow current events too closely. The woman said she did, though, have email subscriptions to CNN and The New York Times. She said she follows social media accounts, listens to podcasts, and enjoys reality television.
The woman said she does not listen to talk radio.
The woman said she can be fair and impartial. She said she does have opinions about Trump, but said she believes she can put them aside and be fair and impartial.
Juror #10 is a man who lives in Manhattan. He was born and raised in Ohio and works in commerce for a large company. The man has a college degree.
The man said he is not married and has no children, but lives with another adult who works in accounting.
The man said he enjoys being outdoors and loves animals.
The man said he does not really follow the news, but listens to podcasts on behavioral psychology.
The man said he has no strong opinions on how Trump is treated in this case.
Juror #11 has been selected. Information on this juror was not immediately available.
Juror #12 has been selected. Information on this juror was not immediately available.
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