A federal judge has signaled that she may be open to allowing an attempt to block conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene(R-Georgia) from running to keep her seat in Congress to proceed.
A group of Georgia voters, backed by constitutional scholars and Democratic activists, said Greene’s actions surrounding January 6, 2021, Capitol attack violated the 14th Amendment.
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
The amendment was originally adopted to keep former confederate officials from running for office or trying to overthrow the government in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Greene reportedly played a role in organizing the protestors, though Greene and her team adamantly deny it.
A similar case came up in North Carolina as voters tried to block Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R) from being able to run again. He had spoken at the “Stop the Steal” rally prior to the attack, but the case was blocked by a judge last month.
The Georgia federal judge, Amy Totenberg, said she had “significant questions and concerns” about the ruling in the case against Cawthorn. She said that she saw the law as pertaining to the past war, not future cases of insurrection.
Greene’s lawyer, James Bopp Jr., called the case against Greene “50 pages of newspaper articles, hearsay and political hyperbole.”
Totenberg is expected to make her decision on the case soon.
