United states

Member of Parliament Green refuses to say whether interfering in election count makes man “enemy of Constitution”

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ATLANA – Representative Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) On Friday declined to say whether illegal interference in the counting of presidential votes would make an “enemy of the Constitution”, as she testified in her role on January 6, 2021. an attack on the US Capitol as part of a case aimed at disqualifying him from running for re-election.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if that defines it that way,” Green said in response to questioning by a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case.

Green noted that “breaking the law is illegal” and that more than 700 people have been charged with various crimes in connection with the January 6 attack. She had previously visited a prison in Washington, D.C., where some of the accused were detained, and described them as “patriots.”

Green also said during Friday’s hearing that she believed Joe Biden had lost the 2020 election to President Donald Trump, but said it was “inaccurate” that she wanted Congress not to certify Biden as the winner.

In the days leading up to the January 6 attack, Green said, “We will not allow this election to be stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats.” She was among 147 Republicans who voted in favor of at least one objection to the countdown to Biden’s electoral vote.

There is no evidence that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

The lawsuit against Green was filed by Free Speech for People, a campaign finance reform organization, on behalf of a group of voters in the Green area. The Reform Group says Green, who has become a lightning rod of controversy and earned a reputation as one of the Republican’s most right-wing members, has helped ease the search for the Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency. . I win.

As she entered the hearing room at Georgia’s Office of State Administrative Hearings on Friday morning, Green was greeted with applause and applause from some of the audience. Green House Member Matt Goetz (R-Fla.) Also attended the hearing.

Good morning from the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings, where @RepMTG will testify for the first time about his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. She had just been applauded as she entered the room.

“It’s a full courtroom, like Easter,” the judge said. pic.twitter.com/rXQf8fW9f9

– Matt Brown (@mrbrownsir) April 22, 2022

In an introductory statement, Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, said “this is not the kind of riot in which leaders stand in Richmond, Virginia, delivering long speeches.”

“Rather, the leaders of this uprising, of whom there were many, were among us – on Facebook, Twitter and social media corners, which would make your stomach hurt. “Evidence will show that Marjorie Taylor Green was one of them,” Fein said.

Green’s lawyer, James Bopp Jr., said Free Speech for People wanted to “deny the right to vote to thousands of people in Georgia’s 14th District by removing Green from the ballot.”

“Voters have the right to vote for their chosen candidate unless there is a very convincing legal, not rhetorical, justification for it,” Bopp said.

He accused Free Speech for People of trying to “resist [Greene] A speech protected by the First Amendment “for her comments on the January 6 attack. And he argues that the 14th Amendment aims to ban any “direct, overt act of insurrection to overthrow the United States government,” such as Confederate troops.

In an interview, Fein said the case could also set a national precedent for other members of Congress and officials who violated their oath and helped the uprising, including if he chooses to run again in 2024, former President Donald Trump. ”

Green dismissed the lawsuits against her.

“They want to talk about the ‘big lie?’ It’s the ‘big lie’ and they’re destroying democracy,” Green said. about the case during an interview Tuesday with One America News.

Trump took part in a statement Thursday afternoon criticizing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger – both Republicans – for allowing “a terrible thing to happen to a very popular Republican.” Trump complained that Green, one of his closest allies in Congress, “is now going through hell in an attempt to overthrow her, just more than an election mess in Georgia.”

After losing his job in the state in 2020, Trump aggressively spread baseless accusations about the state’s electoral systems and criticized Republican lawmakers for disagreeing with his false allegations. Trump has backed the main contenders for both Kemp and Rafensperger.

Analysis: Dissection of the proposal to disqualify Marjorie Taylor Green for insurrection

U.S. District Judge Amy Tottenberg ruled Monday that the case could continue, a decision that contrasts with other cases against members of Congress for their alleged role in the January 6 attack. Free Speech for People filed a similar lawsuit against Madison Cowthorne (RN.C.), but he successfully filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the proceedings. The organization has also filed lawsuits against representatives Paul A. Gossar and Andy Biggs, both from Arizona.

Green tried to block the process by asking for an order and a temporary restraining order, but Tottenberg denied the request. The congresswoman has criticizes the fact that the media will have the right to attend Friday’s hearing before an administrative law judge.

Two witnesses called free speech for the people. The first, Gerard Maglioca, a professor of constitutional law at Indiana University, wrote in detail about the congressional amnesty and the 14th Amendment, which bans those who have “replaced an uprising or riot” from the federal service.

The group’s lawyer then questioned Green.

During the hearing, Bopp repeatedly adjourned to object to the plaintiffs’ questioning. This prompted one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers to say at one point: “You have a constant objection, Mr Bopp, to everything in the world.”