American Oversight and another watchdog group, Accountable.US, claim that violates Perdues 2017 agreement with ethics officials that he would restructure his original family trust and transfer all of its stock in Perdue Business Holdings to a new, irrevocable trust that wouldnt be overseen by or benefit the secretary. In this 2017 post, I recount some of the port-related shenanigans the cousins Perdue got up to together, including launching a port-reliant export business. In his 2002 election campaign, Perdue promised that he would let the state's citizens vote to determine the state flag. And so, you know, I think he was one of those, you know, members who, you know, was part of that faction were against it. Steve Fennessy: So the faction that was opposed or is opposed to the idea of Sonny Perdue as chancellor seems to be getting smaller. He won his first term in 2014 by fewer than 8 percentage points. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 24,[49] with Bernie Sanders and nine Democrats voting against him. The business holdings were a source of concern during his confirmation process, as well as during his time as Georgia governor from 2003-11, when he faced more than a dozen ethics complaints and was found to have funneled illegal amounts of money from his businesses to his campaign in 2002. Mr. Perdue served two terms as governor from 2003 to 2011, and later became Secretary of Agriculture under President Donald J. Trump. Last month, the U.S. State Department said it will start processing more applicants seeking H-2A temporary. Steve Fennessy: News that Sonny Perdue will, in all likelihood be the university system of Georgia's next chancellor comes at a time when state legislators are debating bills about how racial history should be taught in classrooms. Conley. The complex arrangements were criticized as breaking the spirit of the rule, however, and that Perdue and his family's ties to his corporation were not distanced as much as the law intended. Senator David Perdue (R-GA) abstained, as they are first cousins. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue pledged in 2017 to separate himself from his multimillion dollar business holdings that could pose conflicts of interest in his public duties. Eric Stirgus: Correct. Thanks for listening. But ethics questions have piled up in recent months about the secretarys mixing of USDA duties and his political promotion of the president. Is that right? "[45], The project overall has been scrutinized as a waste of taxpayer money due to mismanagement of bond money and extremely low visitors. [50], In September 2017, Politico reported that, according to 42 reviewed resumes, the department hired 22 former Trump campaign workers, many of which had no significant agricultural knowledge or experience with federal policies. Chris Saeger, a spokesperson for Accountable.US, said the reorganization of Perdues assets from one trust to another appears to be nothing more than a shell game and a maze of technicalities and denials.. So you have 14 members who serve each congressional district in Georgia, and then there are five at-large positions. Along with the recent Hatch Act violation, Perdue is facing blowback from Democrats and food banks for requiring all contractors under a $4 billion coronavirus relief program to stuff promotional letters signed by Trump into millions of food boxes delivered to hungry families. Unquote. Purdue merged the voter-fraud myth with another racist fantasy, also fervently indulged by Trump, that undocumented immigrants burden taxpayers by siphoning welfare benefits. You know, I've worked with him, but you know, I just didn't feel like, you know, he was the best person for the job. The secretarys 2019 filing also shows nearly $140,000 in income from Soque River Conservation LLC, which holds land along the Soque River in northern Georgia and is held by a separate trust that Perdue first reported last year. Steve Fennessy: How big is the university system? But you know, obviously, you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about issues like critical race theory. So tell us, what does the job of chancellor of Georgia universities and colleges entail? As governor from 2003 until 2011, he celebrated the states legacy of chattel slaverysigning 2009 legislation making April Confederate History and Heritage Month, honoring the more than 90,000 brave men and women who served the Confederate States of America. He was an early adopter of race-motivated voter suppression, signing into law one of the nations first strict ID laws. The latest scrutiny stems from Perdues wealth of current and former interests in agriculture, trucking and land development a complex web of trusts, land parcels, holding companies and subsidiaries. Steve Fennessy: How Gov. The administration began acquiring bond money for the Go Fish Education Center near his home in Perry, GA. [69] Perdue lives in Bonaire, Georgia. The COVID-19 crisis served as yet another opportunity to promote the political fortunes of his boss, without impeding his pursuit of a pro-agribusiness, anti-worker agenda. Steve Fennessy: By definition, you're appointed as a regent by the sitting governor, but appointing and hiring a chancellor is supposedly, at least theoretically, not supposed to be political, right? Both elections are set for Jan. 5, though early voting began on Monday. [12], In education, Perdue promoted the return of most decision-making to the local level. [News tape] FOX5: Students against Sonny have collected more than a thousand signatures on a petition on Change.org. Trump announced just days before his own inauguration, on Jan. 20, 2017, that. His committee assignments included Ethics, Finance & Public Utilities, Health & Human Services, Reapportionment, and Economic Development, Tourism & Cultural Affairs. [48], During meetings with Georgia state port officials, then-Governor Perdue discussed his family business's use of a terminal, then started a new export company in Savannah soon after leaving office. [News tape] WSB: In a statement, Perdue said education funding was affected by twin recessions while he was governor. [44], Upon the end of Perdue's term as governor, many in the Georgia General Assembly condemned the project and Perdue after an advisory council (appointed by Perdue) began to funnel additional bond money to the project located in his home county. Eric Stirgus: I think it's been a mix of both. Eric Stirgus: There have been some faculty members who have, you know, written letters to the University System of Georgia, you know, stating their opposition. Trump said Friday that he has directed Perdue to provide at least $16 billion in relief. All Rights Reserved. So very excited to have the president standing with us and I'm a lot like him. Very few Republican elected officials, operatives, donors and activists in Georgia have. [33] Georgia voters chose the flag resembling the Confederate flag. [53] In August 2017, he announced a mentoring program for new farmers. David Perdue is saying, "I'm the big Trump guy here." Steve Fennessy: So there's a school of thought that Gov. USDA said the reorganization of Perdues finances was cleared by career ethics staff, pointing to the secretarys 2019 financial disclosure that was signed by ethics officials. The likely appointment of Mr. Perdue, a Republican, comes during a volatile time in Georgia politics, with the State Legislature considering several bills that would ban, or limit, how race and activism are taught in the classroom. However, Perdue was faced with a Democratic House that would not allow the 1956 flag to be included in the referendum, due to its Confederate origins, and he needed support for a tobacco tax he wanted to pass to raise revenue. [51], Perdue was the designated survivor on January 30, 2018, for President Trump's first State of the Union address. But is there a way of, like, by appointing by at least advancing the candidacy of Sonny Perdue for chancellor is this a way for Brian Kemp to gain some political points with some Trump voters out there? The office directed the USDA chief to reimburse the government for travel expenses and other costs of the event. The USDA's press office rejected CNN's request to interview Ziska, but not Politico's, where he went on to describe the department as internally fearful of Perdue's open skepticism towards climate change, which, according to Ziska, has led officials to "go to extremes to obscure their work to avoid political blowback". Steve Fennessy: When you look at past chancellors in the university system of Georgia, is that a position where the person who gets the job is typically coming from a higher educational background? So you've had recently, you know, the Board of Regents members serve seven-year terms. The property (in Estill, South Carolina) had originally been purchased by ADM for 5.5 million dollars, and independent assessments and government tax assessors agree on that as a fair range; however, AGrowStar was offered the property for US$250,000, a fraction of its value. Sonny Perdue Is Sole Finalist to Lead Georgias Public Universities, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/us/sonny-perdue-georgia-chancellor.html. You can keep up with Georgia today by subscribing to the show at GPB.org. The secretarys numerous and labyrinthine financial interests in agribusiness and land development makes it essential that his ethical commitments be rigorously enforced so as not to create a conflict of interest, Austin Evers, the groups executive director, wrote last week in a letter to the IGs office. Citing export losses from Trumps trade war with China, the USDA lavished mainly huge soybean, hog, and cotton farmers with $28 billion in 2018 and 2019more than double the price tag of President Barack Obamas 2009 auto bailout. Through it all, Perdue maintained his extraordinary podcast, The Sonnyside of the Farm, a monthly testament to the genius of his boss and the glory of big agribusiness. Yes, there is a acting chancellor. Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do. In research shared with POLITICO, Accountable.US alleges that farm policies backed by the secretary could potentially have benefited his own or his familys interests beyond the two agribusinesses that were sold. Sanders: one of the the most fun, engaging, charming, and charismatic people Ive ever been around. Perdue: he has an amazing instinctive ability to make decisions.. Eric Stirgus: It was pretty newsy for us. If a college loses accreditation, warned the agencys president, Belle S. Wheelan, it could cause enrollment declines, lead to bad publicity and revoke the schools access to federal money. [29] Perdue also created additional opportunities for charter schools and private schools. [News tape] 11Alive: He tweeted, "Brian Kemp is running for governor of the Great State of Georgia. The Board of Regents is expected to confirm Perdue's appointment in the next two weeks. Perdue then decided that the Go Fish Education Center would be built down the road from his home. [3], In 2006, Perdue was re-elected to a second term in the 2006 Georgia gubernatorial election, winning nearly 58% of the vote. At the beginning of 2020, Perdue yearned publicly for a way to cut federally mandated wages for migrant farm workers on guest visas. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. Perdue is poised within . So I think there is some concern out there among some of them. AGrowStar (including the assets acquired as part of the Estill deal) was sold by Perdue's trusts in 2018 for 12 million dollars, but due to the secretive nature of the trusts, this was not widely disclosed. Born George Ervin Perdue III, Perdue has been known as Sonny since childhood, and prefers to be called by that name; he was sworn in and signs official documents as "Sonny Perdue". While Perdue puffed up the generosity of his boss, the USDA was busy botching the food-relief effort, awarding fat contracts to distributors ill-equipped to handle them, with the result that some parts of the country got a lot of food, while others got very little, NPR reported. [46] The land was eventually sold to developers; however, the state was evaluating bidding on the property and keeping it as a reserve. That's next. This is Georgia Today. Secretary Perdue has visibility into and control over the trusts and their underlying assets, and he continues to benefit from them despite the plain terms of his 2017 ethics agreement, Evers wrote to the inspector general. A former two-term governor of Georgia, George Ervin Perdue III, known throughout his life as Sonny, served as Agriculture Secretary from 2017 to 2021. [News tape] CNN: The former president recruited the former Sen. David Perdue to mount a primary challenge to Gov. Some would say the most important job is, you know, making sure that money that comes from the state is sent to the schools and is being spent properly. What does it mean to be a chancellor? Secretary Perdue was just chastised for his abuse of tax dollars for political purposes by ethics authorities, so we cannot take these claims at face value, he said. [23] Prior to Perdue's becoming governor, no state agency had compiled an inventory of what assets were owned by the state. [2] He previously served as the 81st governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011; Perdue was the first Republican to hold the office since the Reconstruction era.[3]. I ran because I was frustrated with the government. Eric Stirgus: Good question. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see. So without that accreditation, it could severely impact, you know, enrollment. He would not be the first governor to move into academia: Former Gov. [12] A 2005 tax bill passed by the Georgia Legislature allowed residents to gain a tax break if they sold a property in Georgia to buy similar property in another state, and made the change retroactive to 2004. So we have not had a chancellor at least, a non-interim chancellor for at least seven or eight months, right? The board cited Perdue's, quote, "vast understanding of the issues facing the university system," unquote. [63], In August 2020, Perdue supported the president's re-election while promoting the Farmers to Families Food Box Program; Perdue was fined for violating the Hatch Act. Dr. Sonny Perdue bio. The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry overwhelmingly approved his nomination on March 30, with a 191 vote. Governor Perdue stood out for his impressive experience and leadership in public service as well as a vast understanding not only of Georgia and its communities but of the issues facing the university system as we move forward, Harold Reynolds, the chair of the Board of Regents, said in a statement on Monday. The former Georgia governor has a background in agriculture. [70], Perdue is an avid sportsman. (David Perdue is now locked in a tight runoff election that could decide which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.).