Jon Ossoff , the Democratic challenger to Sen. David Perdue ofGeorgia , took a jab at Georgia's two Republican US senators ahead of next week's runoff elections.- Ossoff ripped Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Wednesday and accused them of "blatantly" using their offices to "enrich themselves."
- Both Perdue and Loeffler were investigated on suspicion of insider trading but were never charged.
- Ossoff also described attacks on Loeffler's Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock as ploys to distract attention from Loeffler "campaigning" with a former Klansman.
- Loeffler was photographed earlier this month with Chester Doles, a former KKK chief who is a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, but denied knowing who he was.
The Democratic US Senate candidate Jon Ossoff took the opportunity to slam Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia after a Fox News crew approached him during a live broadcast.
Ossoff is facing Perdue in one of two US Senate runoffs in Georgia that conclude next week, with control of the Senate at stake, and he called on the Fox News audience to look beyond partisanship ahead of Election Day.
"We have two United States senators in Georgia who have blatantly used their offices to enrich themselves," Ossoff said. "This is beyond partisanship. And the reason to your question that I talk about health and jobs and justice for all the people is that we can unite behind that program."
—Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) December 31, 2020
He proposed working to reopen rural hospitals that had closed in the state, raise the minimum wage, and pass what he called "landmark civil-rights and voting-rights legislation to secure equal justice for all."
His claims that the two Republicans were using their positions to enrich themselves stem from Loeffler's and Perdue's history of buying and selling stocks while in office.
The US Justice Department began an investigation into Loeffler after she sold millions of dollars in stock in January following a private briefing on the coronavirus. Loeffler, a multimillionaire, is also married to the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
The investigation did not lead to charges, but Loeffler has avoided answering questions about whether US senators should be allowed to trade stocks when they're still in office and recently called questions into her trading a "left-wing media lie" and a "conspiracy."
Perdue also came under scrutiny for buying stock in a personal-protective-equipment company on the same day he got a classified Senate briefing on the coronavirus. A US Justice Department investigation was also dropped without charges.
Ossoff also addressed whether allegations of domestic abuse against Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is working to unseat Loeffler in the other Georgia runoff, would hinder the Democratic ticket.
Warnock's ex-wife accused the candidate of running over her foot during a domestic dispute in March.
During an incident captured in newly released police body-camera footage, Ouleye Ndoye told officers that Warnock ran over her foot while trying to leave with their two children.
"This man's running for the United States Senate, and all he cares about right now is his reputation," Ndoye can be heard telling the officer.
Warnock told officers he believed he was far away and had barely moved his car.
"I barely moved," he said. "And all of a sudden she's screaming that I ran over her foot. I don't believe it."
He was not charged with a crime, and medical officials said there wasn't any sign of injury to Ndoye's foot.
Ossoff said the accusations against Warnock were an attempt by Loeffler to "distract from the fact that she's campaigning with a former member of the Ku Klux Klan."
Earlier this month, Loeffler was photographed with Chester Doles, a former KKK chief who is a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
Doles posted the photo of himself and Loeffler on the Russian social network VKontakte on Friday with the caption "Kelly Leoffener and I. Save America, stop Socialism!"
Loeffler's campaign said she did not know who Doles was when she posed for the photo.
"Kelly had no idea who that was, and if she had, she would have kicked him out immediately because we condemn in the most vociferous terms everything that he stands for," Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for Loeffler's campaign, said.
Loeffler's office did not reply to a request for comment from Business Insider at the time of publication.
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