Marjorie Taylor Greene is testifying under oath on Friday about her alleged role in the events of last Jan. 6. She isn’t too happy about it.
The court appearance follows U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg’s ruling earlier this week that a case seeking to disqualify Greene from office for “engaging in insurrection or rebellion” could proceed. Greene has consistently and very publicly pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, while rilling up her supporters to descend on Washington, D.C., ahead of the election’s certification last Jan. 6.
Greene was confronted with several of her social media posts on the issue while on the stand, but she was hesitant to take ownership of the views she’s pushed in the past. The conspiracy theorist from Georgia has long engaged with some of the most extreme corners of conservative media, pushing lies about Democratic colleagues, hate speech, and calls for violence, and on Friday she seemed well aware of how bad her record looks when it’s removed from the cesspool of right-wing demagoguery on the internet and laid bare in a court of law.
“Is it fair to say that from Election Night until January 6th, your personal opinion and your wish was that Congress not certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election?” she was asked.
“No, that’s not accurate,” she replied.
Question: Is it fair to say that from election night until January 6th, your personal opinion and your wish was that Congress not certify Joe Biden?
Greene: No that’s not accurate pic.twitter.com/9aKJqZkodl— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2022
Greene also flat-out denied she said House Speaker Nancy is a traitor to the United States, despite the fact that she has explicitly described her as such.
Greene in media appearances earlier this week seemed worried that the media would zero in on specific clips and sound bites from her testimony on Friday. “They’re going to click and cut and paste so they can sell a lie on their networks every night,” she said during an appearance on One America News. It stands to reason that she may been refraining from admitting to her previous comments throughout her testimony on Friday out of fear that networks would “click and cut and paste” them for what they are.
Greene ultimately said of Pelosi that by “not securing the border that violates her oath of office,” but declined to admit she called her a traitor.
“Fair enough,” the attorney replied. “I’m not interested in her oath of office. I’m interested in that you said she’s a traitor to our country.”
Question to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “In fact, you think that Speaker Pelosi is a traitor to the country, right?”
Greene: “I’m not answering that question…I haven’t said that.”
Q: “Put up plaintiff’s exhibit 5.”
Greene: “Oh, no. Wait. Hold on now…” pic.twitter.com/hBHPAkUOaA
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 22, 2022
Rolling Stone reported in October that Greene was one of several Republican lawmakers who participating in the organization of the rally near the White House that preceded the Capitol attack. The topic came up on Friday, of course, and instead of denying her involvement, Greene repeatedly said she didn’t recall any conversations she might have had regarding what was to come on Jan. 6.
She was first asked if she talked to anyone in the government about whether there would be protests on Jan. 6.
“I don’t remember,” she said. “We were mostly reading information about election fraud and people signed affidavits what they’d witnessed with voter fraud, and preparing to object. That’s pretty much all I remember.”
“Pretty much, but your testimony as you sit here today under oath is that you didn’t talk to anybody in government about the fact that there were going to be large protests in Washington on Jan. 6?” the attorney asked.
“I don’t remember.”
She was asked if she talked to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)
“I don’t remember.”
She was asked if she talked to Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)
“Sorry, I don’t remember.”
What about anyone in the White House?
“I don’t remember.”
Did she hear anyone mention the potential for violence on Jan. 6?
“I don’t remember.”
This story is developing…
