Marjorie Taylor Greene wanted Donald Trump to overturn election result by martial law
Marjorie Taylor Greene discussed evoking martial law to keep Donald Trump in power, according to text messages. (Getty/Kevin Dietsch)
Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested in a text that Donald Trump should declare martial law to overturn the election results.
CNN obtained 2,319 texts that Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, sent and received between Election Day in 2020 and President Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January 2021. The messages have also been confirmed by the Guardian.
Meadows handed over his text messages to the committee investigating the deadly riots that took place on 6 January 2021 at Capitol Hill. But he soon stopped cooperating further with the committee, according to CNN.
Just days before Biden took office, Greene told Meadows that there were “several” lawmakers who wanted for Trump to invoke martial law, which she misspelled in the text seen by CNN.
Greene texted: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall [sic] law.
“I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know.
“They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!”
According to CNN, Meadows did not appear to respond to the message from the relentlessly anti-trans and far right-wing politician.
Last week, Greene was the first member of Congress to publicly testify under oath about the events surrounding the Capitol riots. During testimony on Friday (22 April), she was asked specifically about if she advocated for the “idea that there should be martial law declared” in the US, ABC News reported.
“No, I don’t recall ever discussing that,” she replied.
According to CNN, Marjorie Taylor Greene texted Meadows on the day of the Capitol riots about her fear that there was an active shooter, saying Trump needed to “calm people”.
She wrote to Meadows on the morning of 7 January and said she was “sorry nothing worked” as political supporters for Trump “tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states”. Greene also claimed the election was “stolen” from Trump.
“I don’t think that President Trump caused the attack on the Capitol. It’s not his fault,” she wrote. “Absolutely no excuse and I fully denounce all of it, but after shut downs all year and a stolen election, people are saying that they have no other choice.”
During her testimony on 22 April, Greene was asked if it was “fair to say” that she wished that “Congress not to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election” from election night “until January 6, 20 2021”.
“That is not accurate,” she said.
Greene has not only opposed the peaceful transfer of presidential power to Biden but has also spread conspiracy theories, spouted COVID misinformation, targeted trans youth and compared the mask mandate on the House floor to the Holocaust.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is also being sued by a group of Georgia voters, represented by Free Speech For People, who are seeking to disqualify her from running for re-election.
The group has cited Greene’s alleged involvement in the Capitol riots and argued that a section of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment prevents Greene from holding a federal office.
NPR reported that Greene asked a federal court to dismiss the legal challenge against her, but a judge let the case proceed.
Greene called the legal challenge a “scam” and insisted that she had done “nothing wrong” in an interview with WTVC.
“All I did was what I’m legally and allowed to do by the Constitution as a member of Congress, and that was I objected to Joe Biden’s electoral college votes from a few states,” Greene said.
She also said that she is appealing to the 11th circuit court.
