Atlanta Progressive News

(APN) ATLANTA — It’s now apparent US Congressman John Lewis’s (D-GA) spokesperson was not being honest with Atlanta Progressive News (APN) when she said Lewis doesn’t get involved in local races by supporting local candidates.

Recently, US Rep. Lewis supported Fulton County Commissioner candidate John Eaves, who won the seat. Lewis’s support was promoted by Eaves and his campaign in campaign materials and in advertisements.

The problem is, Lewis’s spokesperson Brenda Jones told APN that Lewis does not get involved in local races.

That was a couple months ago, when APN contacted Lewis’s office for an explanation as to why he was supporting US Senator Joe Lieberman (erstwhile-D-CT), a centrist Bush-enabling war hawk, and not US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), a progressive Democrat like Lewis.

Lewis’s support for Lieberman, but not McKinney, seemed strange, given the similarities of Lewis and McKinney’s voting records.

Jones countered at the time that Lewis’s support for Lieberman in a Connecticut race was apples, whereas getting involved in McKinney’s Georgia race would have been oranges.

Now, however, it appears the explanation was not an accurate representation of reality, because Lewis has gone ahead and gotten involved in a local race, by supporting Eaves for Fulton County Commissioner.

Lewis told the Associated Press (AP) he would support Lieberman no matter what, when asked what if Lieberman lost his Democratic Primary.

Jones told APN later the AP quote was not accurate.

AP reporter Susan Haigh and the Connecticut AP Bureau, however, confirmed the quote and said Jones did not choose to contest the matter with them.

Jones has contested at least one additional AP article concerning Lewis before, but in that case chose to contact them for a correction.

US Sen. Lieberman later left the Democratic Party after losing the Primary to Ned Lamont, a more progressive choice.

Lieberman went on to win his seat back ultimately as an Independent, basing his support largely on Republican voters.

Congresswoman McKinney, on the other hand, did not prevail in the so-called election results, in her Democratic Primary against Hank Johnson. Georgia elections are, of course, essentially meaningless, however [see APN Essential Elections Integrity Reading List for more information].

Jones accused APN of trying to “force” Lewis to endorse McKinney.

“Because you want to force congressman Lewis’s endorsement of McKinney does not mean he should do so,” Jones wrote in an email.

UPDATE: Even more hypocrisy has come to light. According to Donzella James, Congressman Lewis also appeared in local advertisements supporting US Rep. David Scott (D-GA). Scott is a centrist who proudly supported military tribunals, instead of proper due process, for detainees of the US who have been held without charges. Lewis and Scott’s voting records have only about 20% in common; whereas Lewis and McKinney’s voting records had almost 100% in common.