Skip to content Skip to footer

Georgia Voters Continue Push to Disqualify Marjorie Taylor Greene From Office

The new complaint also notes that Greene’s original defense relied “almost entirely on her claimed lack of memory.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

A group of voters in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Georgia) congressional district is appealing a previous finding from an administrative judge saying that she is an eligible candidate for office — and that she wasn’t in violation of the “insurrection” clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The five voters appealing that decision, led by the organization Free Speech for People, argue that their original complaint was not decided on fairly or in accordance with Georgia’s laws on such matters.

The appeal to the original order was filed on Monday.

The original complaint against Greene earlier this year alleged that her involvement in plans to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — including her advocating for former President Donald Trump to consider using martial law to keep now-President Joe Biden from being rightfully inaugurated — violated the 14th Amendment, which bars any person who has previously taken an oath of office to a political position in the U.S. from running for office in the future if they’ve engaged in “insurrection” or “rebellion against” the country.

A person who has been deemed an insurrectionist against the U.S. can only retain the ability to run for office through a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.

The original complaint was sent to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who forwarded it to Georgia Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot. Greene was compelled to testify during the daylong hearing on the matter, but said she couldn’t recall or confirm many of her own past statements.

“Greene’s defense rested almost entirely on her claimed lack of memory,” the new complaint from the five voters says, noting that “she answered ‘I don’t recall’ or some version thereof more than 80 times during the hearing.”

Beaudrot eventually sided with Greene, stating that the voters did not provide a compelling enough argument for why she should be barred from running. But in their new complaint, the five voters note that, according to precedent established by state Supreme Court rulings, the burden of proving whether a candidate is eligible to run is on the candidate, not the voters filing the challenge.

By shifting the onus onto those making the complaint against Greene, Beaudrot erred in his final judgment, those voters say in their appeal, which was filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

Primary elections for congressional races in Georgia are set to commence later this month.

Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One

Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.

Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.

Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.

As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.

And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.

In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.

We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.

We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $81,000 in one-time donations and to add 1250 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.

Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.

If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!

With gratitude and resolve,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy