WASHINGTON – A Democratic congressman from California presented a resolution on Friday to expel Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress, accusing the Georgia Republican of a history of trafficking conspiracy theories that “defended violence against our peers, the spokesman voice and our government “.
It is unclear whether Mr Jimmy Gomez’s resolution will be put to a vote and, even if it is, it is unlikely to obtain the high reference needed to give Greene the kick. Greene’s incendiary social media story prompted her to be removed from her committee positions last month by a vote of 230-199, which is well below the two-thirds vote that would be required to expel her.
Gomez said on Friday in the House plenary that he was compelled to present the resolution because, “I believe that some of my Republican colleagues, and one in particular, want damage to this legislative body.”
“That’s what I believed after this camera was turned into a crime scene just 10 weeks ago,” said Gomez, referring to the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill by a crowd of Trump supporters.
“I am not happy to present this resolution, but any member who incites political violence and threatens our lives must be expelled. And I will do everything I can to protect our democracy and keep all my colleagues safe,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Told reporters at her weekly news conference that Gomez’s resolution does not reflect the position of the leadership, but “members are very unhappy with what happened here and can express themselves the way they do it. What Mr. Gomez did was his own opinion. “
Greene’s office did not immediately comment on the resolution, and although she frequently comments on Twitter, the congresswoman’s campaign said her account was suspended for 12 hours. The campaign said they had received no explanation for the suspension, which Twitter later said was the result of an error.
“At around 1 am, in the dark of night, Twitter chose to silence a member of Congress who faced an unprecedented political attack by House Democrats. This measure eliminated any possibility for Congresswoman Greene to defend her reputation, her seat and, more importantly the votes of 230,000 Georgians in the 14th district on the Twitter platform, “Greene’s campaign said in a statement.
In a message posted on the social media site Telegram, Greene suggested that Gomez’s resolution and Twitter actions be linked.
“Today the Democrats are presenting a resolution to EXPELL me from Congress. And suddenly, overnight, Twitter suspended me at 1 am for 12 hours for absolutely no reason, with no explanation. They are doing everything they can. to silence me because I am a threat to the swamp! “she said in the post.
A Twitter spokesman said it was an innocent mistake. “We use a combination of technology and human review to enforce the Twitter rules throughout the service. In that case, our automated systems have mistakenly taken action on the referenced account. This action was reversed and access to the account was restored, “said the spokesman.
Twitter suspended Greene’s account for 12 hours in January, saying it repeatedly violated the company’s disinformation policy.
Greene, a freshman who won the Republican primaries and then ran almost unopposed, was criticized for expressing support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, accepting calls for violence against leading Democrats and suggesting that the school shootings at Sandy Hook and Parkland were staged.
Before the vote to remove her from her committee positions last month, she distanced herself from her previous statements, saying that they “do not represent my values”.
“I was able to believe things that were not true,” she said.
Dareh Gregrogian reported from New York. Alex Moe and Haley Talbot reported from Washington.
Rebecca Shabad and Kevin Collier contributed.