An attorney for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has argued that her alignment with the far right’s attempts to overturn President Joe Biden’s legitimate electoral victory in 2020 count as “legitimate political speech.”
In her opening statement, attorney James Bopp said that Greene’s efforts to deny Biden his victory are protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. He also insisted that Greene bears no responsibility for the insurrection of January 6, which took place when a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the United States Capitol in a bid to overturn Biden’s win.
Bopp went so far as to call Greene a “victim” of the attack.
“Rep. Greene was a victim of this attack,” Bopp said during opening statements. “Her life was in danger, she thought,” she was “scared and confused.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attorney, Jim Bopp: “She reveres the Constitution.” #MTGHearing pic.twitter.com/0UjT0OXRcc
— FreeSpeechForPeople (@FSFP) April 22, 2022
But Ron Fein, an attorney who is representing a group of voters who seek to disqualify Greene from the ballot, disagreed with that assessment, arguing that while Greene may not have directly participated in the attack, she still played a part in sowing the seeds of discontent that led to the attack.
“She was not on the Capitol steps urging the attackers to breach police lines and smash through the doors on Jan. 6…different figures in this larger effort had different roles,” Fein said. “Marjorie Taylor Greene, nonetheless, played an important role.”
The voters who are trying to disqualify Greene from the ballot want to use the disqualification clause, a provision in the Fourteenth Amendment, to disqualify Greene from running for political office again because of her alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Greene has already taken the stand to testify under oath.
HAPPENING NOW: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) testifies at an administrative hearing on a 14th Amendment challenge to her candidacy for reelection in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District – LIVE on C-SPAN https://t.co/Due2fKNYbU pic.twitter.com/VDYPZ4Ubdk
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 22, 2022
This is a developing story.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
