Patriot Brief

• Karen Bennett resigned after being charged with fraud tied to pandemic-era benefits.

• She is the second Georgia Democrat in two months charged over alleged misuse of unemployment funds.

• Another Democrat, Sharon Henderson, faces similar charges but has not resigned.

At some point, coincidence stops being a defense.

Karen Bennett’s resignation makes her the second Democratic Georgia lawmaker in just two months to be charged with fraud connected to pandemic unemployment programs. Different districts, same scheme, same excuse — COVID disrupted my work — and now, the same legal reckoning.

According to prosecutors, Bennett claimed she was unable to perform in-home physical therapy services during the pandemic. The problem? Court documents say that wasn’t her job to begin with. She allegedly worked administratively from a home office, continued doing so throughout the pandemic, and still collected benefits meant for people who actually lost work. That’s not confusion. That’s misrepresentation.

It gets worse. Prosecutors say she failed to disclose a separate church job paying nearly $1,000 a week while claiming benefits. Again, these programs weren’t ambiguous. Applicants were required to attest — under penalty of law — that they had lost income and were eligible. Bennett pleaded not guilty, but she resigned anyway. That choice speaks louder than any press release.

Meanwhile, Sharon Henderson faces similar charges and remains in office. She’s accused of falsely claiming a pandemic layoff from a school district she barely worked for and was contractually ineligible to collect unemployment from. She insists she did nothing wrong.

This is exactly why public trust is so brittle right now. Lawmakers voted to expand emergency programs at record speed, then some of them allegedly helped themselves from the same pot. Pandemic relief was sold as a moral necessity. Abuse of it — especially by elected officials — is a moral failure.

With federal prosecutors signaling that more Georgia lawmakers may be under investigation, this likely isn’t over. If these cases prove anything, it’s that emergency spending without serious oversight doesn’t just invite fraud — it attracts it.

From Western Journal:

A Democratic Georgia lawmaker has resigned after she became the second Georgia Democrat in two months to be charged with fraud.

Former Democratic Rep. Karen Bennett of Stone Mountain resigned after being charged with grabbing $14,000 to which she was not entitled, according to the Georgia Recorder.

Democratic Rep. Sharon Henderson has been charged with taking $17,100 from the same pandemic-era program as Bennett. She has not resigned her seat.

Bennett has a doctorate in physical therapy and operates a company called Metro Therapy Providers. Bennett claimed she had been required to provide in-home physical therapy services that were curtailed by the pandemic.

Court documents dispute that.

BREAKING: Georgia State Rep. Karen Bennett (D) indicted for allegedly fraudulently obtaining covid unemployment benefits pic.twitter.com/ZH4PwD88d5

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 6, 2026

“Before the pandemic her actual role with Metro Therapy was an administrative one and she worked from her home office; she did not provide in-home services for clients,” a charging document said.

“She was not prohibited from reaching her home office because of the pandemic. She was able to continue working as usual from her home to support Metro Therapy throughout the pandemic, and the therapists who provided actual services to clients were able to continue their work after a brief disruption,” the document said.

Bennett also allegedly failed to disclose a church job paying $905 per week she claimed pandemic benefits.

Bennett, who was first elected in 2012, resigned her seat despite pleading not guilty to the charges.

Henderson has said she did nothing wrong, despite facing two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of making false statements, according to the Georgia Recorder.

Henderson is accused of claiming in her June 2020 application that the Henry County School District laid her off because of the pandemic.

BREAKING: Georgia State Rep. Sharon Henderson (D) has been INDICTED on unemployment fraud after allegedly illegally collecting over $17,000 in benefits during the COVID pandemic. pic.twitter.com/JUTCSGPKYq

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2025

Henderson, according to prosecutors, could not legally claim to have lost income in 2019 and 2020 because she only worked at the school for five days in 2018 and had not worked there since.

The substitute teacher contract she signed said she was not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Henderson was first elected in 2020.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has not yet appointed a panel to decide whether Henderson should be suspended, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said last month that other Georgia state House members were being investigated, but it is not clear whether that means more charges are to come after those filed against Bennett.

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