Marjorie Taylor Greene Awaits Decision Over Place On Primary Ballot

ATLANTA, GA — After listening to testimony Friday from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who argued she should be on the election ballot, a judge will make present his findings to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who will decide.

Critics of Green are seeking to declare her ineligible to hold office because they said she helped facilitate the Jan. 6 riot that sought to keep Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election win.

A group of Georgia voters filed a challenge last month over Greene’s eligibility to run for re-election with the Georgia secretary of state’s office. The Associated Press said the challenge was made by a group of registered voters in Greene’s 14th congressional district.

Greene, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is set to appear on the Republican ballot for the May 24 primary. She has repeatedly denied aiding or engaging in an insurrection and has filed a lawsuit against the voters posing a challenge to her eligibility; she argues their effort is unconstitutional, AP reported.

The complaint alleges that Green, a Republican, is ineligible under the 14th Amendment, saying that “before, on, and after January 6, 2021, Greene voluntarily aided and engaged in an insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power, disqualifying her from serving as a Member of Congress.”

Greene was engaged in “legitimate political speech” when she called for a response to Biden’s presidential victory prior to last year’s insurrection, her lawyer argued Friday during a hearing over her right to run for reelection, according to an AP report.

Greene represents Georgia's 14th District, which includes Paulding County, as well as Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Polk, Walker and Whitfield counties and a portion of Pickens.

The 14th District voters are represented by Free Speech for People, which bills itself as a “nonpartisan, non-profit legal advocacy organization.”

Ron Fein, a lawyer for the voters who filed the challenge, said Greene broker her oath of office by engaging in an insurrection.

“The leaders of this insurrection were among us, on Facebook, on Twitter, on corners of social media that would make your stomach hurt,” Fein said.

While Greene wasn’t on the Capitol steps, she stoked conservative anger ahead of the Jan. 6 attack, Fein argued. The day before the insurrection, Greene posted, “It’s our 1776 moment!” on the social media platform Parler.

“I was talking about the courage to object,” she said in the hearing.

“The most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s candidacy, the most powerful witness in establishing that she crossed the line into engagement in insurrection is Marjorie Taylor Greene herself,” Fein said.

The voter group's argument hinges on a clause in the Constitution that disqualifies for re-election any member of Congress who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." The clause was passed after the Civil War to keep congressmen who had sided with the Confederacy out of power.

James Bopp, a lawyer for Greene, said his client “did not engage in the attack on the Capitol,” and the challengers are making a very serious charge with significant ramifications.

“They want to deny the right to vote to the thousands of people living in the 14th District of Georgia by removing Greene from the ballot,” he said.

A similar challenge to U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina was blocked earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, who ruled that an act of Congress a few years later — the Amnesty Act of 1872 — essentially undid that part of the Constitution. Myers was appointed by President Donald Trump.

Greene denies any role in the Jan. 6 attack. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out, no evidence has been made public by law enforcement or congressional committees linking her to the insurrection.

“I’ve never encouraged political violence and never will,” Greene said, as reported by the newspaper.

Free Speech for People's case relied on reports of Greene's involvement through the media, coupled with public statements that appear to support that reporting, mostly through conservative-friendly media or Greene's own social-media posts.

A typical Greene pronouncement is cited on the advocacy group's website:

"You can't allow it to just transfer power 'peacefully' like Joe Biden wants and allow him to become our president because he did not win this election. He's guilty of treason. It's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason."

According to the Associated Press, Georgia law says any voter who is eligible to vote for a candidate may challenge that candidate’s qualifications by filing a written complaint within two weeks after the deadline for qualifying, which was March 11. The secretary of state must then notify the candidate of the challenge and request a hearing before an administrative law judge. After holding a hearing, the administrative law judge presents findings to the secretary of state, who then must determine whether the candidate is qualified.