Marjorietaylorgreene testifies at court challenge

ATLANTA — Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took the witness stand Friday to push back against a legal challenge filed by a group of her constituents who want her banned from seeking office over her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a series of testy exchanges over the course of several hours, Greene dodged many of the questions posed by an attorney for challengers, sometimes saying she didn’t remember her remarks or interactions in the run-up to the deadly pro-donald Trump mob.

But she insisted throughout the proceeding that while she promoted the pro-trump “Stop the Steal” rally, she never encouraged — or participated in — the violent riot that sought to block the formal vote to certify Joe Biden’s victory.

The court hearing attracted intense media attention, in part because

Greene is the first member of Congress to testify publicly and under oath about the events that led to the riot and in part because she’s one of the nation’s most polarizing politicians.

At issue was a challenge filed by five of Greene’s constituents that contends the first-term lawmaker violated a provision of the 14th Amendment by engaging in an insurrection to block the peaceful transfer of power.

The challengers’ attorney, Andrew Celli, pressed her throughout the proceeding on her online activity and public remarks urging Trump supporters to gather outside the Capitol as lawmakers prepared to confirm Biden’s win.

Often, she responded to the questions by simply saying, “I don’t remember” to the attorneys, who quickly told the judge they would treat her as a hostile witness. Other times, she berated Celli for use of “biased”media sources as she rejected his line of inquiry.

“I never mean anything for violence,” she said in response to one query.

“None of my words, never ever, mean anything for violence.”

Her attorneys framed the challenge as an effort to deprive Georgians of a choice at the ballot box — little more than a publicity stunt, they argued, to help Greene’s political opponents.

“The right to vote is at stake — right here, right now,” said Greene attorney James Bopp. “Because they want to deny the right to vote to the thousands of people in the 14th District of Georgia by having Greene removed from the ballot.”

Ron Fein, another attorney for the challengers, told Administrative Judge Charles Beaudrot that the most devastating witness against Greene is her own public remarks, which included what he framed as a code word for violence by calling the protests a “1776 moment.”

“Instead, it turned out to be our 1861 moment,” said Fein, the legal director of Free Speech For People, the national group that brought the legal challenge.