Legal challenge to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from ballot struck down

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is back. On the ballot, that is.

A Georgia judge ruled on Friday that the conspiratorial Republican may run for reelection, rejecting claims that she violated a Reconstruction-era law barring supporters of an insurrection from running for Congress.

The firebrand supporter of former President Trump will now be an overwhelming favorite to win reelection in her district, which is one of the most deeply conservative in the country.

Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot said in a 19-page decision that the liberal activists who filed the case failed to prove that Greene was an active participant in the attack on the Capitol, which aimed to overturn Trump’s loss to President Biden.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2022.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2022.


Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2022. (Win McNamee/)

“Challengers have produced insufficient evidence that (Greene) engaged in that insurrection,” Beaudrot wrote.

The decision now moves on to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is expected to give MTG the go-ahead to seek reelection.

The challenge to Greene’s eligibility was filed by voters who allege the congresswoman played a significant role in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.

It claimed that her actions violate a seldom-invoked part of the 14th Amendment that barred Confederate officials and military leaders from seeking office after the Civil War.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)


Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) (Drew Angerer/)

Ron Fein, a lawyer for the voters who filed the challenge, called Greene’s alleged support for the Capitol attack an “1861 moment,” referring to the start of the Civil War.

During her testimony before the judge, Greene repeated the unfounded claim that widespread fraud led to Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, and repeated dozens of times that she didn’t recall various incendiary statements and social media posts that she made.

Greene acknowledged encouraging a rally to support Trump but she said she wasn’t aware of plans to storm the Capitol or to disrupt the electoral count using violence.

A similar challenge to Rep. Madison Cawthorne (R-N.C.) was also rejected by a federal judge.

The congresswoman applauded Beaudrot’s decision and called the challenge to her eligibility an “unprecedented attack on free speech, on our elections, and on you, the voter.”

“But the battle is only beginning,” she said in a statement. “The left will never stop their war to take away our freedoms.” She added, “This ruling gives me hope that we can win and save our country.”

With News Wire Services

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