Marjorie Taylor Greene discussed martial law to keep Trump in power, text messages show

(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested in a text message sent three days before Joe Biden was sworn in as president that some of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies wanted to declare martial law to keep Trump in power.

“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 [sic],” Greene texted Trump’s then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 17, 2021, 11 days after a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the certification of the vote.

The messages were revealed Monday by CNN, which said it obtained all 2,319 text messages that Meadows selectively handed over to the House select Jan. 6 committee in late 2021 before he decided not to cooperate with the panel.

The authenticity of the messages was confirmed to ABC News by people who have seen them.

“I don’t know on those things,” Greene continued in her exchange with Meadows. “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!”

Last Friday, Green became the first member of Congress to publicly testify under oath about the events surrounding the Capitol attack. When asked specifically about martial law and whether or not she discussed the idea of using it to keep Trump in power with either the former president, his chief of staff, or anyone else in the administration, Greene repeatedly said, “I don’t recall.”

Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first to advocate for martial law. The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Flynn in November, requesting documents and testimony in reference to a Dec. 18, 2020 meeting he reportedly attended with Trump in the Oval Office, where seizing voting machines used in the 2020 election was discussed.

One day before meeting with Trump, Flynn told the conservative news outlet Newsmax that Trump “could take military capabilities and he could place them in those states and basically rerun an election in each of those states.”

Trump denied reports he was considering attempting to impose martial law, tweeting “Martial law = Fake News.”

In addition to Meadows’ texts with Greene, the trove of messages published by CNN includes texts Meadows exchanged with other members of Congress, with members of the Trump family, with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and with various reporters — including texts exchanged on Jan. 6 while the Capitol attack was taking place.

“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 texted Meadows during the attack, according to the collection of messages.

“Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?” then-Rep. Mick Mulvaney texted Meadows.

“They have breached the Capitol,” texted Rep. Barry Loudermilk, to which Meadows replied, “POTUS is engaging.”

“Thanks. This doesn’t help our cause,” Loudermilk responded.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.