Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in January 2021 that some members of Congress were calling for Donald Trump to impose martial law to remain president, according to text messages Meadows recently provided to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
News of the text messages, which was first reported Monday by CNN, comes days after Greene testified in a separate case that she could not recall whether she had advocated for martial law at the time.
According to CNN, Greene raised the topic in a text to Meadows on Jan. 17, 2021, more than a week after the insurrection and days before Joe Biden’s inauguration as president.
“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,” Greene texted Meadows, misspelling the word “martial.” “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’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
In an earlier text message, Greene also sought help from Meadows as she and other Republican members of Congress prepared to object to the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. She alluded to having met previously with Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal attorney at the time.
“Good morning Mark, I’m here in DC. We have to get organized for the 6th,” Greene said in a Dec. 31, 2020, text message, according to CNN. “I would like to meet with Rudy Giuliani again. We didn’t get to speak with him long. Also anyone who can help. We are getting a lot of members on board. And we need to lay out the best case for each state.”
Giuliani was one of several Trump advisers who met at a “command center” at the Willard Hotel ahead of Jan. 6, The Washington Post previously reported.
Last week, while testifying about her alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack as part of a case seeking to disqualify her from seeking reelection, Greene said she could not remember whether she urged Trump to impose martial law.
“I don’t recall,” Greene said in response to questioning by an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case.
“So you’re not denying you did it?” Andrew G. Celli Jr. “You just don’t remember?”
“I don’t remember,” Greene replied.
The exchange marked one of dozens of times during Friday’s hearing that Greene said she could not recall her tweets or statements related to the Capitol attack. Greene’s appearance in an Atlanta courtroom was one of the first times a member of Congress has been questioned under oath about the attack.
The case against Greene was brought by Free Speech for People, a campaign-finance reform organization, on behalf of a group of voters from her district. The Free Speech group alleges that Greene, who has become a lightning rod for controversy and has gained a reputation as one of the Republican Party’s most hard-right members, helped facilitate the ransacking of the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Biden’s win.
According to the text messages reported by CNN, Greene quickly pivoted from urging the White House to call off the rioters to making baseless claims that left-wing extremists were responsible for the violence.
“Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn’t the way to solve anything,” Greene reportedly texted Meadows at 2:28 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.
Less than an hour and a half later, at 3:52 p.m., Greene texted Meadows again: “Mark we don’t think these attackers are our people. We think they are Antifa. Dressed like Trump supporters.”
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray testified last March that no evidence had emerged that “anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa” had been involved in the attack on the Capitol.
Jacqueline Alemany and Matt Brown contributed to this report.