Friday’s AJC Political Insider column pointed us to a very interesting collection of social media posts put together by a top Democrat.
California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House Administration Committee, examined the posts of all 157 Republicans who objected to the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, triggering a riot at the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters who believed his false claims that the election was rigged.
The Georgia section alone is 128 pages long. The bulk of that is devoted to conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, but Reps. Jody Hice and Andrew Clyde, who represent Athens, had a few choice entries of their own.
For instance, Hice hyped a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Georgia Capitol on Nov. 7. He also attacked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican who stood up to pressure from Trump to change the results. On Jan. 2, Hice tweeted that, “Americans want free and fair elections with honest counts of legal ballots. I don’t believe this occurred in Georgia on Nov. 3, and I know millions of you feel the same!”
Even after President Biden’s inauguration, Clyde was still sticking to the “Big Lie.” He wrote an op-ed on Jan. 22 about “irregularities and misconduct” in the election and “numerous allegations of fraud.”
Audits, recounts and dozens of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and their associates unearthed no evidence of fraud that would have altered the election results.
Lofgren noted in the document’s foreword that Congress likely has the power to expel members for inciting insurrection under the 14th Amendment. She didn’t offer an opinion on whether that is warranted, but said people can use the information to help make up their own minds.
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