Those pushing a challenge to the eligibility for re-election of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have filed a court motion seeking to add a newly revealed text from Greene discussing martial law to the record. The text was from Greene to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and she sent the message on January 17 of last year — some time after the attack on the Capitol took place and just days before Biden was set to be inaugurated. In the message, she told Meadows that other House Republicans supported the idea of Trump imposing martial law, allowing him to stay in power beyond the point he was legally supposed to leave. Greene was actually asked during a recent court hearing related to the challenge to her eligibility for office whether she pushed for Trump to impose martial law. She said she didn’t recall doing so — which from the outset seemed more suspicious than if she’d outright denied it.
New via Guardian US: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell was “exhilarated” after the Capitol attack bc he thought Trump was discredited, @jmartNYT and @alexburnsNYT write in new book ‘This will not pass’. McConnell also asked on Jan. 6: “What do you hear about the 25th amendment?”
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 26, 2022
Greene could have been relying in her answer on the fact that she apparently didn’t personally endorse the idea of martial law — but she still pushed the prospect to Meadows, ferrying details about other Republicans’ stances on the issue to him. And at that point, Meadows was clearly an intermediary of sorts between Trump and others — so should Greene outright claim that she didn’t push Trump to impose martial law (a claim she didn’t make), she’d be misrepresenting the basic facts here. Spelling martial law wrong, Greene originally told Meadows in that message: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall 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!”
New: House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republican leaders on a Jan. 10 call that Matt Gaetz and Mo Brooks, among others, were endangering the security of other lawmakers and the Capitol — as well as Lauren Boebert and Barry Moore, per @jmartNYT and @alexburnsNYT
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 26, 2022
Greene filed a lawsuit in hopes of stopping the challenge to her eligibility for re-election from proceeding to the point of that recent hearing where she was asked about martial law, but a federal judge declined to block the challenge from proceeding. Those behind the challenge note in their new motion for the inclusion in the record of that text to Meadows that the missive “further undermines Greene’s credibility. Greene’s testimony at the hearing that she could not remember discussing martial law with anyone was already dubious. This text with President Trump’s Chief of Staff makes her testimony even more incredible because it seems like the kind of message with the kind of recipient that a reasonable person testifying truthfully would remember.”
New: Jan. 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson says that they will likely issue another invitation to House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy — and other members — to cooperate voluntarily with the investigation.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 27, 2022
The group adds that “the text sheds light on the meaning of her pre-January 6 statements. Eleven days after the failed insurrection, Greene was still fighting against the peaceful transfer of power by advocating extra-legal means. This text, like her statements on January 5, shows the lengths to which she was willing to go to help Mr. Trump remain in power.” The threats to democracy posed by these people’s actions stand to intensify in the event that Republicans reclaim control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections, raising the stakes.
Fascinated to know how many House Republicans are giving McCarthy a pass over the leaked NYT tapes because they feel the same way about Trump and far-right GOP members as he does in private and recognize he’s just doing what he needs to do
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 27, 2022
