A federal judge ruled that a group of Georgia voters can proceed with legal efforts seeking to disqualify U.S Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from running for reelection to Congress, citing her role in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Associated Press reports.
Judge Amy Totenberg denied Greene’s request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order after the congresswoman filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking a judge to declare that the law the voters are using to challenge her eligibility is unconstitutional and to prohibit state officials from enforcing it.
Totenberg wrote in her ruling that Greene had failed to meet the “burden of persuasion” in her request for injunctive relief.
Last month, Free Speech for People, a national election and campaign finance reform group, filed the challenge on behalf of the group of voters.
The complaint alleges that Greene is ineligible to run for re-election under the 14th Amendment which says no one can serve in Congress “who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.”
The voters argued that “before, on, and after January 6, 2021, Greene voluntarily aided and engaged in an insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power, disqualifying her from serving as a Member of Congress.”
Similar attempts to remove GOP lawmakers from the ballot who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election were rejected. Last month, a federal judge blocked an effort to remove Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C) from the ballot. An Indiana judge also rejected an attempt to block Rep. Jim Banks from running for reelection.
