Green is expected to be called as a witness during the marathon hearing, making her the first MP to testify under oath for their involvement in the uprising. The result will reverberate outside of Georgia, as similar challenges lie ahead for other Republican officials and could be leveled against former President Donald Trump if he runs again in 2024.
The case is being settled on a Fourteenth Amendment Civil War-era provision that says any American official who takes an oath to abide by the Constitution is disqualified from holding any future office if he “engages in rebellion or rebellion against the same, or help or comfort their enemies. ”But how this relates to today is a hotly debated legal issue.
Several Green voters in her northwestern Georgia region challenged last month with the support of a coalition of liberal activists and constitutional scholars. They say Green helped the uprising by promoting myth of voter fraud, posting videos before January 6 criticizing the peaceful transfer of power and allegedly coordinating with protest organizers.
The burden of proof will be on the contenders to show by the standard “more likely than not” that January 6, 2021 was legally an uprising and that Green helped the rebels. Judge Charles Bodro will preside over the administrative hearing and issue a recommendation to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger on whether Green should be disqualified.
Green can appeal Rafensperger’s decision in state courts. She categorically denied any wrongdoing in the US Capitol uprising, saying she had “never encouraged political violence” and saying she had not been involved in planning the protests. Her lawyer told CNN that she believed Friday’s hearing was a “show trial” and that the whole procedure was a gross violation of her rights.
It is noteworthy that the disqualification hearing is even taking place. Green has filed a federal lawsuit to suspend the state process – in this way, Republican spokeswoman Madison Coathorn rejected a similar challenge to run in North Carolina. But in a shocking 75-page ruling Monday, a federal judge dismissed many of Green’s legal arguments and allowed the state case to move forward. The Challenge Against the Greens is backed by Free Speech for People, an advocacy group, and Our Revolution, a left-wing group founded by Senator Bernie Sanders. Green, who has become infamous for spreading far-right conspiracies, has found support from some conservative legal experts and from Trump himself, who issued a statement full of lies praising her on Thursday.
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