The Controversial U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Grene of Georgia has been on trial and questioned at her disqualification hearing. The hearing regarding whether to disqualify her from seeking reelection initially took place on Friday. Greene is the first GOP member of Congress to testify in court about the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both the administrative law judge and voters of her district, who Greene is testifying in front, have said that Greene should be disqualified from reelection because they claim that she encouraged and assisted the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Witnesses on the stand have said that Greene has since reiterated baseless claims about election fraud and that she never incited violence but only referred to challenging the electoral count. Greene stated, “I don’t support violence of any kind. My words never ever mean anything for violence.”
Lawyers and Attorneys with the Free Speech For People cite and use the 14th Amendment to stop Greene from being reelected to congress. The section of the 14th Amendment used in the trial states, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.”
Regardless of this, Greene says that this is a lie and a scam to take away the rights of her constituents to vote for the candidate of their choice. Lawyers of the Free Speech For People also cited one of Greene’s tweets made on January 5th that reads “1776 moment.” which is allegedly code for political violence in many far-right circles and groups. Multiple videos of Greene were also played where she incites violence in response to election fraud while advocating for Former President Donal Trump. However, according to her attorneys, she is a victim of the January 6th attack, and her rhetoric about the attack is protected political speech.
According to CNN, Georgia’s primary ballots are already being printed. Therefore, if Greene is disqualified, state officials will have to post notices stating that she is not an eligible candidate. Greene, however, can appeal a disqualification in state courts.
