MTG Testifies in Court About January 6 in Case That Could Block Her Reelection

Congresswoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to the stand on Friday to testify in a lawsuit that could block her from seeking another term representing Georgia in the US House of Representatives. She is up for reelection in November.

The hearing was held in the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings in Atlanta after campaign-finance reform group Free Speech for People filed a complaint against Greene in a US federal court.

In the suit, Free Speech for the People alleges that the freshman lawmaker “does not meet the federal constitutional requirements for a Member of the US House of Representatives and is therefore ineligible to be a candidate for such office.”

“Specifically, Intervenors assert that Plaintiff ‘voluntarily aided and engaged in an insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power,’ disqualifying her from serving as a Member of Congress under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the filing notes.

That clause prohibits certain individuals and office holders who previously swore oaths of office from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States.

The Fourteenth Amendment was one of three Reconstruction amendments added to the US Constitution in the aftermath of the 1861-1865 US Civil War. With the Confederacy crushed and the rebellious pro-slavery states of the US South under military occupation, Congress undertook considerable action to prevent the situation from recurring, including freeing the roughly 4 million enslaved Black people over whose cause of freedom the war was fought, but also measures intended to create formal legal equality for all Americans, as the Fourtheenth Amendment aims at.

However, the insurrection over which Greene was being questioned was not the Confederacy, but the events of January 6, 2021, when followers of then-US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol Building in an attempt to block certification of the November 2020 election results by Congress.

Greene was questioned over a series of tweets and videos she made at the time, including urging Trump to impose martial law in order to remain in power.

“I don’t recall,” Greene told an attorney who asked her about the statement.

“So you’re not denying you did it?" the attorney asked. “You just don’t remember.”

“I don’t remember," Greene replied.

A similar exchange happened over her attendance at a preparatory meeting for the January 6 event, which began as a rally outside the White House hosted by Trump.

Unfortunately for Greene, she frankly states she attended that meeting in a video filmed at the time.

Here’s all the evidence you need.
Why is Marge still at large?#MarjorieTaylorGreenepic.twitter.com/WnQQNq4fsk

— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) April 22, 2022

After losing to Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Trump refused to accept the loss, claiming Biden had only won due to massive voter fraud carried out by Democratic Party organizers. Through November and December, he built support with several rallies, culminating on the January 6 event, during which a joint session of Congress was meeting to certify the election results, as is required of them by the US Constitution.

At the rally, Trump urged thousands of his followers, many of whom adhered to the QAnon conspiracy theory, to “stop the steal;” however, he was later exonerated of charges that he incited the insurrection that followed. His followers quickly overwhelmed DC Capitol Police and stormed the national legislature, dispersing Congress and sacking the building. Five people died in the riot, but they failed at their objective and were soon cleared from the building by police and soldiers.

Trump commented on the case against Greene on Thursday, criticizing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger - both of whom are Republicans, but with whom he already had poor relations due to blaming them for failing to ensure the ballot recount in Georgia made him the victor.

Trump said the two had “allowed a horrible thing to happen to a very popular Republican,” who is “now going through hell in their attempt to unseat her, just more of an election mess in Georgia.”

The US Department of Justice has vigorously pursued prosecutions for participants in the insurrection. Insider reported earlier this week, citing DOJ releases, that 253 defendants had entered guilty pleas so far, but hundreds more are facing charges. In addition, a special House committee has spent months gathering information about the preparations for the events of January 6, calling dozens of witnesses for testimony, including numerous Trump insiders, and seeking key White House documents from Trump himself.