US Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday told a lawyer for voters seeking to disqualify her from running for re-election that she did not know how to answer a question about whether she advocates violence against people with whom she disagrees.
Ms Greene testified in a Georgia state court in Atlanta in a novel legal challenge to her candidacy accusing her of violating a US Constitution provision called the "Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause" by supporting an incendiary rally that preceded last year's attack on the US Capitol.
Andrew Celli, a lawyer for the voters, asked Ms Greene during the hearing before administrative law judge Charles Beaudrot whether she advocates political violence against people with whom she disagrees.
"I don't think so," Greene replied. "I don't know how to answer that."
The Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause, passed after the US Civil War in the 1860s, prohibits politicians from running for Congress if they have engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" or "given aid or comfort" to the nation's enemies.
"I was asking people to come for a peaceful march, which everyone is entitled to do," Ms Greene said. "I was not asking them to actively engage in violence."
The voter challenge is being spearheaded by a group called Free Speech for People that advocates for campaign finance reform.
A similar challenge backed by the same group against Republican US Representative Madison Cawthorn failed when a federal judge in North Carolina dismissed that suit on March 4.
Ron Fein, a lawyer for the voters seeking Ms Greene's disqualification, said in his opening remarks the congresswoman played an "important role" in instigating the attack on the US Capitol.
"In some cases, the mask falls and she shows us exactly what she intended," Mr Fein said.
Ms Greene is seeking re-election this year, with the Republican primary scheduled for May 24 and the general election on November 8.
During media interviews, Ms Greene has downplayed and justified the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters in their failed bid to block congressional certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
Ms Greene this month said Democrats and journalists have pushed an "over-dramatisation" of that day's events.
Ms Greene's lawyer, James Bopp, argued during his opening remarks that removing her from the ballot would be both unfair to her and to voters in her conservative-leaning district.
Ms Greene is expected to appeal any ruling against her, and has already brought parallel litigation in US federal court seeking to halt the administrative proceeding.
In a recent court filing, Ms Greene's lawyers said she "vigorously denies that she aided and engaged in insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power”.
"Fundamentally, First Amendment rights are at stake, not only the right to vote, as I've mentioned, or the right to run for office," Mr Bopp said during his opening statement.
US District Judge Amy Totenberg on Monday ruled that the challenge to Ms Greene's fitness for office can proceed.
Absentee ballots will start to be mailed on April 25.
- With Reuters
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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Dust storm
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
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ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
T20 World Cup Qualifier
Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
T20 World Cup 2020, Australia
Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
