The real fallout from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s disastrous testimony today in 14th Amendment suit
When Marjorie Taylor Greene testified today, it was not part of any criminal probe or government investigation into January 6th. Nor was it some kind of special government hearing to determine whether she’s disqualified from office. Instead, Greene is merely giving a deposition in a civil suit, brought by private parties who are asking a judge to order Georgia officials to remove Greene from the 2022 ballot under the grounds that she participated in an insurrection against the United States. All that said, this civil suit has the potential to be groundbreaking – and Greene’s disastrous testimony today is likely to have fallout that goes far beyond the limited scope of this suit.
The very most that this judge can do is order that Greene be removed from the ballot – and then only if the judge concludes that the 14th Amendment allows such an order to be given. The only precedent here is 150 years old and even then it’s murky. So the judge could go either way, and the ruling will likely be appealed anyway. But the judge’s ruling in this case is probably secondary to the fallout from Greene’s testimony.
Greene appeared to perjure herself multiple times today, with the opposing counsel able to provide proof in real time that Greene’s answers were untrue. Usually, when someone is caught lying in a civil case, it’s merely grounds for ruling in favor of the other side. It’s rare for prosecutors to bring criminal perjury charges over testimony in a civil case. But given that Greene appears to have lied today with the specific intent of retaining her status as a government official, in a unique civil suit that’s aimed at taking that status away, she does have to worry about at least the possibility of perjury charges.
Greene also appeared to incriminate herself when he admitted that she helped incite the march on the Capitol. Again, this is just a civil case, which doesn’t involve criminal charges or criminal penalties in any way. But criminal prosecutors can use incriminating testimony in a civil suit as a basis for bringing a criminal case. It was recently reported that for several months the DOJ has had a secret January 6th grand jury targeting unnamed people who work in Congress. So it’s clear that the DOJ is investigating precisely what Greene was being forced to testify about today. In other words, the DOJ was certainly watching Greene’s testimony today intently.
But the biggest fallout here may have nothing to do with the law. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s disastrous and scandalous public testimony today will help push January 6th back into the headlines. It’ll help ensure that the general public will want to tune in for the upcoming televised January 6th Committee hearings. And it’ll ensure that January 6th fallout ends up playing a major role in the November midterms.
Even if this civil suit does result in Marjorie Taylor Greene being removed from the ballot in November, her seat in her far right district will likely just go to another far right Republican. But Greene is an albatross that can be hung around the neck of every House Republican who’s seeking reelection in a moderate or swing district: why didn’t they properly denounce her? Why didn’t their Republican Party provide enough votes to expel her? The political fallout from Greene’s testimony today goes far beyond any legal matters, and far beyond her seat.
