Jan. 6 panel member Raskin says Greene would ‘be going to jail’ if she organized Capitol riot

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)
Peter Afriyie
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) speaks during a House Jan. 6 committee hearing on Thursday, October 13, 2022 to focus on former President Trump’s efforts to remain in power following his 2020 election defeat.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Monday said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) would “be going to jail” if she had organized the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, firing back after Greene said that “we would have won” the attack if it had been planned by her and former White House adviser Stephen Bannon.

“If you and Bannon organized the violent insurrection against our government on 1/6 you’d be going to jail with everyone else convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to interfere with a federal proceeding,” tweeted Raskin, a member of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

On Saturday, Greene responded to claims that she was somehow involved in the Jan. 6 riot, saying at a gala for the New York Young Republican Club that the Capitol insurrection would have “been armed” if she and Bannon had been behind it.

“And I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won,” she said.

The White House condemned the comments as “violent rhetoric” and a “slap in the face” to the law enforcement officers who defended the building and the lawmakers inside. At least four officers died by suicide after the riot, and more than 100 sustained injuries.

On Monday, the Georgia Republican defended her comments, dismissing them as “sarcasm.”

“My comments were making fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, who have continuously made me a political target since January 6,” she said in a statement.

Greene is an outspoken ally of former President Trump who backs his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. On Jan. 6, a mob of pro-Trump supporters fueled by unfounded rhetoric of a rigged electoral system stormed the Capitol to stop certification of the election.

Around 900 Capitol rioters have since been charged, and 447 have pleaded guilty, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Last month, federal prosecutors won a seditious conspiracy conviction against four members of the far-right Oath Keepers group, including its founder, the first time in decades someone has successfully been charged with the rare crime.

The House Jan. 6 panel held a series of hearings this year highlighting the danger of the insurrection to democracy and is expected to release a final report later this month. Lawmakers could also send criminal referrals to the DOJ, which has appointed a special counsel to probe Trump’s role in the attack.

Raskin, a prominent member on the House panel, on Monday rejected Greene’s argument that she was simply making a joke.

“These are crimes, not stupid laugh lines,” he tweeted.

Tags Capitol riots House Jamie Raskin Jamie Raskin Jan. 6 Capitol riot Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene Stephen Bannon

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