A Georgia judge on Monday upheld Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s eligibility to run for reelection, handing another defeat to the activist groups that have tried to use the US Constitution’s ban against insurrectionists holding office to disqualify GOP candidates.
The groups have targeted lawmakers who aggressively tried to overturn the 2020 election and stoked the violence on January 6, 2021.
Greene, a prominent conspiracy theorist, won her GOP primary in May. The judge’s ruling does not change the status quo: Greene will appear on the ballot for the November general election, where she is heavily favored to win another term.
The challenge against Greene was lodged based on the 14th Amendment, which prohibits any officeholder who engaged in an insurrection against the US to return to their elected positions.
Judge Christopher Brasher, the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court, ruled that there weren’t any procedural errors with the first-of-its kind disqualification hearing that was held in April, where Greene testified under oath for three-plus hours about the January 6 insurrection.
Therefore, the decision after that hearing to keep Greene on the ballot, stands, Brasher wrote.
He focused on technical portions of Georgia law and didn’t delve into the weighty constitutional questions that flowed from the proceeding, like whether the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was an insurrection, what it means to “engage” in insurrection, and whether post-Civil War amnesty laws still apply.
Greene testified during the hearing that she didn’t encourage any violence that day and said she only wanted to see peaceful protest from supporters of then-President Donald Trump. She has denied any wrongdoing related to January 6, through the liberal-leaning groups who organized the challenge claim Greene’s lies about the election and militant language fueled the violence.
The groups can further appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, but they haven’t said if they will.