A judge has ruled that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is eligible to appear on the ballot after lawyers for a group of voters failed to show she engaged in an act of “insurrection.”
State Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot released the decision weeks after Ms. Greene testified for several hours about her actions before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Challengers have failed to prove their case by a preponderance of evidence,” Mr. Beaudrot said in his decision. “The evidence in this matter is insufficient to establish that Rep. Greene, having ‘previously taken an oath as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States … engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof’ under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.”
“Therefore, the Court holds that Respondent is qualified to be a candidate for Representative for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District,” he said.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger affirmed the decision, clearing the way for Ms. Greene to seek a second term.
Ms. Greene, meanwhile, took a victory lap, blasting out “ACQUITTED” on social media.
“Democrats know they can’t beat me at the ballot box, so left-wing Communist activists tried to RIP my name off the ballot,” Ms. Greene said. “And they failed.”
The complaint against Ms. Greene said she encouraged protesters and is disqualified under a provision of the 14th Amendment that says no member of Congress “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”
Free Speech For People, the non-partisan legal advocacy organization that led the challenge, said the decision “betrays the fundamental purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause and gives a pass to political violence as a tool for disrupting and overturning free and fair elections.”
A district court judge in March blocked a similar legal challenge launched against Rep. Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina.
Ms. Greene, in her testimony, said over and over again that she could not remember some of the comments she made and actions she took ahead of the Jan. 6 riot.
Ms. Greene has become a favorite target of Democrats, who have criticized her for amplifying former President Trump’s stolen election claims, and peddling conspiracy theories.
She also has drawn the ire of some Republicans who fear she is giving the party a bad image, and hope to see her fall in her May 24 primary race where she is facing off against a number of rivals, including health care consultant Jennifer Strahan.
Ms. Strahan is running as a conservative and warning that Ms. Greene has shown she is more interested in political celebrity than getting things done for her constituents.
Still, the blowback Ms. Greene has faced from both the left and the right has only served to bolster her rock star status among Trump-inspired voters and conservative activists that celebrate her willingness to challenge the political establishment, and express her profound distrust in government.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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