Massive Fines And Illegal Donation Haunt Marjorie Taylor Greene

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

Georgia congresswoman and anti-mask, anti-vaccine zealot Marjorie Taylor Greene was hit with four more fines Monday after refusing to don a mask in the House chamber. Greene has racked up $48,000 in fines after failing to wear a mask about 20 times since the rule went into effect.

"You have been observed not wearing a mask on July 29, August 2, September 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, and October 1, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, and 27, and have been asked by a member of my staff to wear a mask while in the Hall of the House of Representatives on each occasion unless recognized to speak by the chair," House Sergeant at Arms William Walker wrote in a letter on Oct. 28.

Greene was fined $500 in May for her first offense, with $2,500 penalties imposed for subsequent offenses/

"I will continue my stand on the House floor against authoritarian Democrat mandates because I don't want the American people to stand alone," Greene said in a statement on Monday.

Greene doubled down on her anti-mask position Tuesday, stating she also wasn't going to get vaccinated.

Greene was forced to apologize in June after she compared mask mandates to Nazi Germany forcing Jews to wear the Star of David under Hitler's regime.

She was not wearing a mask during the January 6 insurrection while hiding with other House members. Several Democrats were later diagnosed with COVID-19. Greene told Fox News it was "insane" for Republicans to be blamed for the infections.

The $48,000 in fines will be deducted from Greene's congressional salary.

But now Greene is facing some bigger fish than mask fines. She's being called out by QAnon fixture attorney Lin Wood, who claims Greene never paid him for legal work. Here's the rub: Wood wasn't working for Greene in a personal capacity. As The Daily Beast reports, Wood was handling Greene's campaign committee as it battled two defamation disputes. And that is a potential violation of federal financial reporting laws.

"I have not been remunerated as of today," Wood told the Daily Beast, noting he billed for last summer's services to the tune of $5,000.

Although attorneys can work pro-bono and not break federal election laws, defamation cases are not allowed.

"If he sent an invoice for legal services, this wouldn't fit under the category of legal services lawyers can provide for free. So the Federal Election Commission would say that these costs must be reflected on her reports," Brett Kappel, campaign finance specialist at Harmon Curran, told the Daily Beast. "It could be what's called a 'disputed debt,' but you still have to report that, along with who did the work and what it was for."

"A worse interpretation for Greene would be that the campaign accepted an illegal corporate contribution," Kappel added. "But at the end of the day, a campaign can't have someone do this kind of legal work without it being disclosed."

Speaking of illegal, how about the new finding by The Daily Beast that on Janaury 4, 5, and 6, Greene made four payments totaling $25,500 in advertising to Parler, a social media platform popular with right-wing users, many of the planners of the insurrection, and those who participated in the attack?