As an unprecedented federal immigration raid descended on Georgia’s most prized economic development project, Gov. Brian Kemp and his staff scrambled to get a handle on the unfolding crisis.

The Republican governor, not apprised in advance about the federal immigration action, contacted President Donald Trump’s aides for details on the raid on the Hyundai Metaplant campus in southeast Georgia, which resulted in roughly 475 arrests and sparked a diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and South Korea.

Kemp’s communications team wrestled over a statement in response to the arrests at the construction site for a battery factory on the campus. They even sliced the word “excited” from an early draft as advisers debated whether to distance the governor and his administration from the automake

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