Lawyers for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., argued in a court docket submitting Thursday {that a} text message she is alleged to have despatched should not be entered into the supplemental report in a case to knock her off the Georgia main poll subsequent month as a result of she “has no recollection” of it.
“I am authorized to say on behalf of Rep. Greene that she has no recollection of this text and, since her texts are automatically deleted after 30 days, she has no way to verify anything about it,” mentioned a submitting by her lawyers.
Her lawyers additional argue that the alleged text is “innocuous.”
The text message in query, which dates to Jan. 17, 2021, seems to present Greene telling then-White House chief of workers Mark Meadows that some GOP lawmakers had been saying President Donald Trump ought to name for martial law.
The message, which was obtained by CNN, solid doubt over Greene’s testimony at a listening to final week that she could not recall whether or not she had advocated for martial law to hold President Joe Biden from taking workplace.
NBC News hasn’t been ready to independently affirm all of the text communications, which seem to reveal efforts by Trump officers and the previous president’s allies to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election that go nicely past what was beforehand recognized.
“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!” Greene is alleged to have written.
Greene’s lawyers raised doubts Thursday over the authenticity of the messages, which plaintiffs had requested the decide to contemplate in a submitting Tuesday.
“There is no copy of it in its original form, and no verifiable source that CNN claims to have gotten it from. As a result, there is no one to cross-examine and this is hearsay within hearsay,” they wrote.
John Bonifaz, one of the lawyers concerned within the problem to Greene’s candidacy pushed again, telling NBC News Thursday, “that seems to be their claim, that this is just a total lie and never happened, and yet she vigorously is out there defending what the message says.”
Greene’s lawyers mentioned that regardless of its authenticity, the message was nonetheless “irrelevant since it has absolutely nothing to do with the January 6th attack on the Capitol, the claimed event of the insurrection, or Rep. Greene’s engagement in it.”
An election and marketing campaign finance reform group often known as Free Speech for People and led by Bonifaz, sued final month on behalf of a bunch of Georgia voters to take away Greene from the poll as a result of of the position she is alleged to have performed within the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Greene testified beneath oath for almost 4 hours as a witness at a listening to final week and was requested whether or not she had advocated for martial law earlier than Biden’s inauguration.
“I don’t recall,” Greene mentioned repeatedly when she was requested about conversations and social media posts surrounding the election and the assault on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Days before the inauguration she was still engaged in trying to find a way to stop the transition of power,” Bonifaz mentioned. “In our view the evidence is overwhelming that it’s not believable she didn’t remember any of this.”
Attorneys on each side got an prolonged deadline till midday Friday to submit ultimate briefs.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers contended that the correspondence “additional undermines Greene’s credibility,” because it resembled “the type of message with the type of recipient {that a} cheap individual testifying in truth would bear in mind.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, will ultimately decide whether Greene remains on the ballot for the state’s May 24 primary.