Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democratic hopeful in next month’s crucial runoff elections for two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, vehemently denied allegations Sunday during a debate with Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler surrounding his arrest 18 years ago for obstructing a police investigation of child abuse at a Maryland camp.
Warnock called Loeffler a liar, noting that although he was arrested, the charges against him were dropped three months later.
“[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 said. “The law enforcement officers actually later thanked me for my cooperation and for helping them.”
Loeffler’s claim that Warnock was arrested for obstructing a probe into child abuse was rated by PolitiFact as “mostly false.”
Loeffler — who has also accused her opponent of advocating to defund the police — and Warnock have been campaigning across Georgia ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections.
In the other race, Republican Sen. David Perdue will face Democrat Jon Ossoff. The two races will decide whether Democrats or Republicans control the U.S. Senate for the first two years of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s four-year term.