• Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) repeatedly endorsed violent calls to kill Democratic politicians and FBI agents, according to a CNN review of her Facebook activity from 2018 and 2019.
• Greene allegedly liked multiple comments calling for the executions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and others. 
• All of the posts, which CNN included in its report, have since been deleted or blocked from public view.
• On Tuesday, Greene described the article as a “hit piece” focused on her time before running for political office, though she did not deny that the posts and her responses to them were real.

CNN Surfaces Controversial Posts

Newly elected U.S. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) allegedly supported numerous violent calls to execute top Democratic politicians before taking office, according to a review of her Facebook activity published by CNN Tuesday.

The highly controversial lawmaker made headlines last year when she became the first member of Congress to openly support QAnon conspiracies. Greene did try to distance herself from the group’s beliefs while on her campaign trail, though she has continued to promote several other debunked claims, including many about the election being rigged.

Greene has been widely condemned by both Democrats and Republicans for making disparaging remarks about Black people, Jews, and Muslims. She has also been criticized for supporting the conspiracy that the Parkland Massacre, Sandy Hook, the 2017 Las Vegas attack, and other mass shootings were all “false flag” operations to encourage the public to support more gun control.

After reviewing hundreds of posts and comments from Greene’s Facebook, CNN reported that she “repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019.”

According to the new report, Greene liked multiple comments on Facebook posts calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) to be killed. Notably, most of the posts CNN flagged and linked out to in its article are no longer accessible, either because she deleted them or changed her privacy settings.

One screenshot CNN captured showed Greene linking a comment written on a January 2019 post. The comment said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” in reference to the speaker.

The outlet also reported that around the same time, she liked a comment that said “through removal or death, doesn’t matter, as long as she goes.” 

The Facebook posts found by CNN did not just target Pelosi. According to the report, she liked a comment seemingly calling for former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry to be hung.

In one post from April 2018, a commenter asked Greene, “Now do we get to hang them ??”

That post was referring to Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to which Greene allegedly responded, “Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off.”

Greene also reportedly liked multiple comments in other posts about executing FBI agents who she believed were part of the “deep state” working against former President Donald Trump and gave a thumbs up to some really concerning calls for violence, including one comment urging for “civil war 2.0” to begin.

Greene Responds

Greene responded to the report in a statement Tuesday, calling it a hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office.” However, she did not deny that the posts and her alleged responses to them were authentic.

“Over the years, I’ve had teams of people manage my pages. Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my view,” she said. “Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet. They are taking old Facebook posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice.”

Greene’s response also sparked criticisms, including from other members of Congress.

“So you aren’t denying you wrote called for the deaths of political leaders, you aren’t taking responsibility, you aren’t apologizing, you aren’t even saying it was wrong,”  Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said on Twitter.

“You’re just blaming others. Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House, and you should resign.”

This is not the first time Greene’s colleagues have called on her to resign in the few weeks she has been a member of the House. After one Democratic Representative called for her to be expelled from the chamber because of her role in the insurrection, Greene posted a tweet falsely accusing “Antifa/BLM terrorism” and Democrats of stoking the riot.

In a statement to the media, a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) called Greene’s alleged comments “deeply disturbing” and promised to talk to the Congresswoman about them. He did not indicate whether or not any further disciplinary action would be taken.

See what others are saying: (CNN) (The Washington Post) (Media Matters)

• Seven Democratic Senators filed an ethics complaint against Republican Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz last week over their efforts in leading objections to the certification of the presidential election.
• The group urged the Ethics Committee to launch an investigation into whether Cruz and Hawley’s actions inspired violence or if there were any connections between the two Senators, their staffers, and the insurrectionists.
• Hawley filed a counter-complaint against the seven Democrats Monday, arguing that they were engaging in cancel culture. 
• “Your baseless allegations are in that sense unfortunately typical of today’s leftwing cancel culture, a culture that tramples on the democratic traditions that left and right once defended together,” he wrote.

Ethics Committee Complaints

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) filed a counter-complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee Monday alleging that a group of Democratic senators were engaging in “cancel culture” by calling for a recent investigation into his conduct.

Last week, seven Democratic senators, lead by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), filed an ethics complaint against Hawley and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) for leading the objection to the certification of the presidential election

In the complaint, the members accused Hawley and Cruz of legitimizing the false claims that prompted the insurrection in the first place and then continuing to “amplify the claims of fraud that they likely knew to be baseless and that had led to violence earlier that day,” by still voting to object.

The letter also noted that both Cruz and Hawley touted their plan to object to the certification as a way to collect more campaign donations. It argued that they continued to do so while the Capitol was literally under siege and even after the insurrection. 

As a result, the seven Democrats urged the Ethics Committee to investigate whether there was any coordination between Hawley, Cruz, or their staffers and the insurrectionists, if they knew about the plans for the Jan. 6 rally, or if they took donations from people and organizations involved.

They also implored the committee to look into whether the actions of the two Senators actions inspired violence or “otherwise engaged in criminal conduct, or unethical or improper behavior.” If any evidence is found, the Democrats recommended the committee take “strong disciplinary action, including up to expulsion or censure.”

Hawley Speaks Out

In his counter-complaint, Hawley accused the Democrats of trampling on free speech in an attempt to “cancel” him.

“This line of thinking is, however, sadly consistent with the new woke-mob mentality that you should cancel anyone who disagrees with your views,” he wrote. “Your baseless allegations are in that sense unfortunately typical of today’s leftwing cancel culture, a culture that tramples on the democratic traditions that left and right once defended together.”

Hawley also echoed that sentiment in a cover essay published by The New York Post on Monday, where claimed he has been “canceled” and “muzzled” over his attempts to stop the Democratic election of President Joe Biden from being certified.

Both the letter and the article attracted significant backlash online and in the media. In a particularly scathing critique, CNN Tonight host Don Lemon condemned Hawley for claiming he was being censored.

“No one has muzzled Josh Hawley. What happened to Josh Hawley isn’t cancel culture. It’s called consequences,” Lemon said. “That’s how the First Amendment works. Say whatever you want, but you gotta pay the price if you say something stupid, or you do something stupid or treasonous, or if you try to overturn a duly elected president, right?”

“Don’t fall for this, people,” he continued. “Think about the actions in the Capitol. Think about what happened, think about the people who died, think about the cops who were beaten by people. Think about all that.”

See what others are saying: (Politico) (Vox) (CNN)

• Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani seeking $1.3 billion in damages for false claims he made about the company, including that the manufacturer led an effort to flip votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
• The lawsuit alleges Giuliani, the former president’s personal lawyer, spread the disinformation in large part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast.
• It also links his false claims about Dominion to the Capitol insurrection, noting that he mentioned the company while speaking at a rally before the attack and on social media numerous times during.
• This is the second suit Dominion has filed against a Trump campaign lawyer, and an attorney for the company said it might bring similar cases against pro-Trump media outlets or Trump himself.

Dominion Sues Giuliani

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, seeking $1.3 billion in damages for false claims he made about the company.

Dominion, which is one of the largest voting machine manufacturers in the U.S., became the main target for widespread election fraud conspiracies spread by Giuliani and other Trump allies. Those individuals falsely claimed with no evidence that Dominion machines, widely used in key battleground states, were flipping votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.

Now, the company claims that Giuliani and his allies “manufactured and disseminated the ‘Big Lie,’ which foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election.”

The lawsuit alleges that he did this in large part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast. It notes that Trump’s top lawyer “reportedly demanded $20,000 per day” for his legal services to the president, and arguing that he “cashed in by hosting a podcast where he exploited election falsehoods to market gold coins, supplements, cigars and protection from ‘cyberthieves.’”

The 107-page suit also specifically outlines more than 50 statements Giuliani made on Twitter, his podcast, to the conservative media, and during legislative hearings. Notably, the company points out that he never mentioned Dominion in court where he could face legal ramifications because he knew what he was claiming was false.

Despite that, Giuliani continued to push the false narrative, even after Dominion sent him a letter in December warning they were going to take legal action against him. 

The lawsuit also links Giuliani’s false claims about Dominion to the Capitol insurrection, noting that he mentioned the company while speaking at the rally before the attack and on social media numerous times during.

According to reports, even after the insurrection, he has still continued to spread those falsities as recently as last week. 

“Dominion’s founder and employees have been harassed and have received death threats, and Dominion has suffered unprecedented and irreparable harm,” the court document states.

Other Defamation Cases

The case against Giuliani is not the first defamation suit Dominion has brought against Trump allies in recent weeks. 

Earlier this month, the company filed a similar claim against former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell where it also sought $1.3 billion in damages over her false assertions that Dominion was part of a world-wide communist plot to rig the election.

Separately, one of Dominion’s top executives has also filed lawsuits against Giuliani, the Trump campaign, and several pro-Trump media outlets after he was forced into hiding due to conspiracies that he masterminded the plot to steal the election.

These cases could just be the start. According to NPR, an attorney for Dominion said it was possible that the company would file additional suits against pro-Trump media outlets — such as Fox News — and even potentially Trump himself.

See what others are saying: (The New York Times) (NPR) (Axios)