April 19 (UPI) — A lawsuit challenging Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s qualification to run for re-election in Georgia can move forward, a U.S. district judge ruled Monday, a win for a non-profit targeting those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Free Speech for People alleges in the suit that Greene violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting anyone who engaged in insurrection or rebellion from running for election by her rhetoric challenging the November 2020 presidential election, leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.
Greene, R-Ga., asked Judge Amy Totenberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, for a temporary restraining order and preliminary junction.
“A thorough analysis of the evidentiary and legal issues presented in this complex matter involving unsettled questions of law, the court finds plaintiff has not carried her heavy burden to establish a strong likelihood of success on the legal merits in this case,” Totenberg said in her ruling against Greene, according to NBC News.
Free Speech for People said that it plans to move forward with a hearing in front of a state administrative law judge in Atlanta on Friday. It said Greene has received a subpoena to testify.
“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,” Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, said 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.”
