Marjorie Taylor Greene to testify as group seeks to disqualify her from running again

Marjorie Taylor Greene to testify as group seeks to disqualify her from running again

Transcript¹

A challenge to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's candidacy, citing her words and actions around the U.S. Capitol attack, goes before a state administrative² judge Friday. Greene is expected to testify.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

A court hearing is underway in Georgia right now. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is slated³ to take the stand, becoming the first member of Congress to testify in court about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Greene has denounced the violence that day, but a group of voters alleges⁴ that she backed the insurrection, and they plan to argue before a special judge that a provision of the 14th Amendment⁵ of the Constitution makes her ineligible⁶ for office. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Stephen Fowler joins us now. Stephen, can you explain this hearing and the grounds for this challenge to Marjorie Taylor Greene's spot on the ballot⁸?

STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE⁹: So Georgia has a law that gives voters a way to challenge the eligibility¹⁰ of candidates running for office. It's an administrative procedure that goes to a special administrative law judge who then recommends findings to the secretary of state, who then makes that ultimate decision. Now, typically, A, we've seen this used when people don't live in the district they want to represent or don't have other proper qualifications to be eligible⁷ to serve, and typically, the person being challenged is the one that has to prove they're eligible. Now, in this case, the administrative law judge says the ones challenging Marjorie Taylor Greene have to prove she should be disqualified and prove why they claim she violated a section of the 14th Amendment that bars people who have, quote, "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S."

MART?NEZ: Now, hundreds of people have been charged in connection with January 6. Congresswoman Greene, though, has not. So what's the goal, then?

FOWLER: Well, this challenge, filed by a group of voters and a nonpartisan group called Free Speech for People, will aim to question Greene about things related to January 6, objections to the Electoral College results, statements she made calling it, quote, "our 1776 moment" and other things they say helped to plan the insurrection. There's comments like this one.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Just finished with our meetings here at the White House this afternoon. We got a - had a great planning session for our January 6 objection. We aren't going to let this election be stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats¹¹.

FOWLER: Now, we've been told Congresswoman Greene will testify under oath, and the challengers hope to glean¹² new information related to the Capitol attack that could be disqualifying for her or other Republicans. It's also the first time we've seen a Republican lawmaker publicly testify and answer questions about what went down before, during and after the insurrection. And cynically¹³, most everyone comes out a winner here. Democrats have been using Greene's extremist language to attack Republicans and paint the party in a negative light. Greene, who is very popular with pro-Trump¹⁴ conservatives, gets to attack Democrats in the media, like she did on a far-right outlet¹⁵ earlier this week.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GREENE: This is a precedent¹⁶ - sets a very dangerous precedent. I cannot believe that I'm being forced to do this. I can't believe this judge has not thrown this case out and seen it for what it is, as nothing but a big, funded scam for the Democrats trying to control our elections.

FOWLER: And even former President Trump has weighed in, using the hearing as an opportunity to attack incumbent¹⁷ Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in his attempts to defeat them in a primary. Unlike Greene, these two Republicans resisted his push to overturn the 2020 election results.

MART?NEZ: So what kinds of outcomes can be expected? I mean, is it actually likely that Greene would be removed from the ballot?

FOWLER: The short answer - no. Greene sued in federal court to try and block this administrative law process, saying it violated her rights, but a judge ruled that the administrative law process was allowed to continue. But it's still going to be an incredibly high burden to make this unprecedented¹⁸ judgment¹⁹ Greene should be struck from the ballot. Other efforts against Republican members of Congress, like Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, have failed. A Trump-appointed judge there said that section of the 14th Amendment is narrowly written to bar former Confederates from holding office and is not applicable today. And remember, A; the judge in this case writes a recommendation which goes to the secretary of state, which is Brad Raffensperger, who's facing his own Trump-backed primary challenge, and in-person early voting beginning in a couple of weeks means he's unlikely to rock the boat and remove Greene while his own political future hangs in the balance.

Now, Greene represents one of the most conservative House districts in the country, so even if she were to be removed from the ballot, it's still a safely Republican seat. And this negative attention will likely not hurt her in a primary, either. She's a top fundraiser and wildly popular across the country with the pro-Trump base.

MART?NEZ: Stephen Fowler with Georgia Public Broadcasting. Stephen, thanks.

FOWLER: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

3 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

4 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

5 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

6 ineligible   

adj.无资格的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The new rules have made thousands more people ineligible for legal aid.新规定使另外数千人不符合接受法律援助的资格。
• The country had been declared ineligible for World Bank lending.这个国家已被宣布没有资格获得世界银行的贷款。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 glean   

v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)

参考例句：

• The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
• From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。

13 cynically   

adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地

参考例句：

• "Holding down the receiver,'said Daisy cynically. “挂上话筒在讲。”黛西冷嘲热讽地说。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• The Democrats sensibly (if cynically) set about closing the God gap. 民主党在明智（有些讽刺）的减少宗教引起的问题。 来自互联网

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

16 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

17 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

18 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

19 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。