ATLANTA — A Georgia state administrative judge began to hear arguments Friday morning that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene should not be allowed to run for reelection over allegedly helping incite the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
A lawsuit against her candidacy was allowed to move forward by a federal judge this week.
A state administrative law judge is hearing case. The administrative law judge will have to present findings to the Georgia secretary of state, who then must determine whether the candidate is qualified.
The challenge filed last month with the Georgia secretary of state’s office alleges that Greene, a Republican, helped facilitate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. That violates a rarely cited provision of the 14th Amendment and makes her ineligible to run for reelection, according to the challenge.
The amendment says no one can serve in Congress “who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” Ratified shortly after the Civil War, it was meant in part to keep representatives who had fought for the Confederacy from returning to Congress.
Greene, 47, filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking a judge to declare that the law that the voters are using to challenge her eligibility is itself unconstitutional and to prohibit state officials from enforcing it.
Judge Amy Totenberg, in a 73-page ruling, denied Greene’s request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order.
Greene, appearing on Tucker Carlson's Fox News program earlier this week, blasted the lawsuit as a product of "the progressives, the people that donate, the dark money groups, the 501(c)(3)s and the foundations" who "have hired some attorneys from New York who hate the people in my district and don't believe they should have the right to elect who they want to send to Washington, which is me."