Georgia MP Marjorie Taylor Greene defended her right to appear before Congress on Friday in an administrative hearing in a challenge by a group of voters who seek to block it from voting based on a post-Civil War policy on maintaining the revolts of elected officials.
Voters’ lawyer, Andrew Celli, focused much of his questioning around 1776 on Greene’s comparisons between January 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol and the Revolutionary War and the use of the Second Amendment by the citizens to rise up against tyrannical governments.
During his testimony, Celli noted in video interviews that he had said that January 6, 2021 would be “our 1776.” Greene rejected most of Celli’s points, either by criticizing the way the videos were edited or by airing on CNN, which he said was unreliable. Asked about the Proud Boys’ plans for a “1776 Returns” on January 6, Greene denied knowledge. He repeatedly stated that his main goal was to oppose the results of the Electoral College.
Greene was also asked if he remembered urging President Trump to impose martial law as a way to stay in power. She said she didn’t remember. He was also asked if he had provided any information to protesters or organizers on January 6, such as a map of the capital. She said no. “I had received the keys on January 3,” he said. “I didn’t even find where the bathroom was most of the time.”
Celli also asked if he knew that certain groups were planning demonstrations on January 6, 2021, Greene replied, “I don’t remember.” Greene also said repeatedly that he did not remember whether he spoke with other members of Congress or with anyone in the White House about the protests planned for that day. He was also asked about the tweets on his account, including one with an Epoch Times article quoting Trump saying supporters should join the “savage” protest in Washington, DC, on January 6. He said he just wanted to share details about the march. .
Ron Fein, the lawyer for the rival group Free Speech for the People, said Friday that “the most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s candidacy, in establishing that she crossed a line, is Greene herself.”
Greene’s attorney, James Bopp Jr., said the challenge to the candidacy “cannot be decided by this court” and suggested that the U.S. House of Representatives should have a role to play in debating whether it should be disqualified or prevented from being a member of Congress in 2023, after the midterm elections.
Bopp shouted January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol “despicable,” but said none of the hundreds convicted so far in the assault they were specifically charged with insurrection. She said Greene met with former President Trump on Jan. 3 “to object to certain states, based on evidence she believed constituted sufficient electoral fraud.”
The challenge to Greene’s candidacy was put forward by a group of five voters in his congressional district who argued that he is not eligible to run for federal office under a provision. of the 14th Amendment which was ratified after the Civil War and was intended to prevent former Confederate officers and officials from returning to public office. Section 3 of the amendment states that “no one shall be a senator or representative in Congress” or “hold any office, civilian or military” if, after taking an oath to support the Constitution, “he participated in an insurrection or rebellion against it, or given help or consolation to its enemies. “
In his closing remarks, Bopp noted the amnesty acts of 1872 and 1898, which he argued undermined post-Civil War law at the heart of the challenge against Greene. He challenged the connection the plaintiffs sought to paint between Greene and the riots and downplayed the concentration that preceded the attacks. There are constant rallies on the ellipse, Bopp told the court.
“This is a political agenda and this has been a political trial,” Bopp said.
Celli argued that Greene’s actions from January 3 to 6, when he is a sworn member of Congress, show that he played a role in participating in and encouraging the insurrection. He referred to video interviews, especially one in which Greene said Trump supporters could not “allow power to be transferred peacefully as Joe Biden wants.”
Celli said Greene was “one of several leaders who put out the fire. She dealt with the conditions, made it possible for there to be an outburst of violence. Then she dropped the party. a fire broke out. “
“Don’t buy this, honor,” Celli said at the end.
The administrative judge in Greene’s case, Charles Beaudrot, said he would try to make a decision in about a week. He will then make a recommendation to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Greene’s candidacy, and it will be up to him to decide whether to withdraw it from the vote. Raffensperger is also running for re-election this year.
A federal judge on Monday allowed the effort to disqualify Greene to run for re-election for his role in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol to continue.
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