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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent GOP conspiracy theorist, is suing to stop a lawsuit that alleges she's ineligible for re-election because of her support of the Jan. 6 riot.
Free Speech for People, a Texas-based advocacy group, filed the lawsuit against Greene on behalf of Georgia voters last month. The group is involved in a similar lawsuit against another far-right extremist, Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. Both lawsuits contend the lawmakers' respective re-election bids violate the 14th Amendment, which prohibits people from seeking office if they’ve “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”
According to Georgia law, voters can challenge a candidate’s eligibility by filing a written complaint to the secretary of state. But Greene’s team argued that the law is unconstitutional, and it's using a rather ironic rationale given her history.
The court filing submitted on her behalf last week alleged that the Georgia law “directly usurps Congress’ constitutional responsibilities” to determine whether a candidate is eligible to run or serve.
The filing also says Greene “vigorously denies that she ‘aided and engaged in insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power.’” (Here’s a video of Greene criticizing the peaceful transfer of presidential power ahead of the Jan. 6 riot.)
It’s bizarre — although unsurprising — to see Greene and her supporters suddenly defending congressional authority when it serves her personal interests. As many will remember, in early January 2021, Greene came out in favor of decertifying the 2020 election results in Georgia before Congress even had a chance to certify them — as authorized by the Constitution. She and more than 100 other Republicans also voted to overturn the election results immediately after the Jan. 6 riot.
Her push to toss the election results before Congress had carried out its constitutional obligation to certify them showed her willingness to usurp Congress’ authority. She'd rather hand over the reins to anti-democratic conspiracy theorists — including former President Donald Trump — who baselessly claim the 2020 election was stolen.
But now we see Greene and her team vehemently defending congressional authority — clearly not out of principle, but because doing so could be her last line of defense against being barred from the ballot in November.
Greene’s logic tells us Congress shouldn’t have the power to prevent Trump from installing himself as ruler, but it should have the power to protect her from justifiable attacks on her eligibility.