A group of voters has filed a challenge with the Georgia secretary of state aiming to bar Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for reelection this year because of her alleged support for the events of January 6, which the suit claims is a violation of the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The suit was filed with Free Speech for People, the same legal advocacy organization that filed a similar lawsuit against North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn, a challenge that a North Carolina judge ruled against earlier this month. In that case, the judge ruled that a law passed in 1872 voided some of the office-holding restrictions, which meant that the 14th Amendment only applied to people who served in certain sessions of Congress.
Free Speech for People said that in the weeks leading up to January 6, Greene claimed that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were committing "treason" and said power could not be transferred peacefully because Biden did not win the election. The suit points to examples of Greene supporting the Capitol rioters by calling them "political prisoners of war" and claiming that left-wing activists, not Trump supporters, were responsible for the violence on January 6.
"It's rare for any conspirator, let alone a member of Congress, to publicly admit that the goals of their actions are preventing a peaceful transfer of power and the death of the president-elect and speaker of the House, but that's exactly what Marjorie Taylor Greene did," said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, in a statement. "The Constitution disqualifies from public office any elected officials who aided the insurrection, and we look forward to asking Representative Greene about her involvement under oath."
The suit refers to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was written after the Civil War and was meant to keep former Confederate lawmakers out of Congress. It states that no one who has committed acts of "insurrection or rebellion" against the United States while they held a prior office should be able to hold office again in the future.
Therefore, considering Greene supported and "helped facilitate" the events of January 6, the suit states, she should be disqualified from serving in Congress again.
Free Speech for People expressed disappointment in the Cawthorn suit ruling and said it should be reversed on an appeal, which the group has since filed. The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Richard Myers in that case meant the state elections board was not allowed to review whether Cawthorn should be disqualified.
The group says that in Georgia, when a challenge is brought against a candidate's eligibility, the secretary of state must request a hearing to determine whether the candidate is qualified for office before an administrative law judge of the Office of State Administrative Hearings.
A candidate is then required to prove their eligibility, which the Free Speech for People statement indicated could include the group issuing a subpoena for Greene to give testimony in a deposition, something she has not done in relation to January 6.
Newsweek has contacted Greene's campaign for a response to the lawsuit.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
Update 3/24/22, 12:00 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
