Judge Rules Effort to Bar Marjorie Taylor Greene From Office Over Jan. 6 Can Proceed

A federal court on Monday declared that a lawsuit seeking to bar Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress for her involvement in the January 6 Capitol Insurrection can go forward, allowing Georgia voters to challenge the Republican’s reelection attempt under the 14th Amendment.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in the aftermath of the Civil War, disqualifies any member of Congress from holding public office if, after swearing to uphold the Constitution, he or she is involved in an insurrection or rebellion or abetting the insurrectionists. The section is referred to as the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause. 

Judge Amy Totenberg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia also turned down Greene’s request for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order against the lawsuit filed against her. 

In a news statement issued on Monday, Free Speech for People, which is representing a group of Georgia voters in the complaint against Greene, stated that “publicly accessible information indicates that Greene helped support the insurgency, before, during, and after January 6, 2021.” The statement further added, “The evidence shows that she either helped to plan the attack on January 6, or alternatively helped to plan the pre-attack demonstration and/or march on the Capitol with knowledge that it was substantially likely to lead to the attack, and otherwise voluntarily aided the insurrection.” 

According to Free Speech for People, Greene openly declared in the weeks running up to January 6 that violence could be required to maintain the power of Trump, referring to the occasion as “our 1776 moment” (a codeword used by insurrectionists to refer to an attack on government buildings).

“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,” Greene had stated prior to the formal certification of President Joe Biden’s victory, according to Free Speech for People.

Interestingly, a month earlier, a Trump-appointed judge denied a similar attempt to bar Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) from competing for reelection. The Amnesty Act of 1872, according to U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, rendered the 14th Amendment’s Section 3 restriction null and void. However, the ruling was condemned by many. The verdict infuriated lawyers who contended that the 1872 legislation applied exclusively to Civil War confederates, not any future insurrectionists, and that a law could not usurp a constitutional amendment, according to a New York Times report.

Five voters in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, which Greene represents, are contributing to the legal attempt to remove her from the ballot prior to the midterm elections. The primary elections in Georgia are set for May 24. 

A Georgia voter, called Michael Rasbury, stated that “Everything I’ve read shows Rep. Greene was part of the Jan. 6th insurrection that was trying to overcome everything I believe in—our Constitution, how we run elections, and how our government is set up”. He went on to say, “She shouldn’t be on the ballot.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Jake Johnson.