Greene’s attorneys responded that “she has no recollection of this text and, since her texts are automatically deleted after 30 days, she has no way to verify anything about it,” and argued that “[t]here is no copy of it in its original form, and no verifiable source that CNN claims to have gotten it from. As a result, there is no one to cross-examine and this is hearsay within hearsay.”
Ultimately, Judge Charles Beaudrot agreed that FSFP “failed to prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence.” While a final decision as to whether Greene’s name will remain on the ballot will be up to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who says he “will release his final decision soon.”
Raffensperger was heavily criticized by Trump and conservatives for his handling of vote fraud claims in the 2020 presidential election. While some have speculated he could ultimately decide against Greene to take “revenge” on Trump’s faction on the GOP, others note that barring her from the ballot would provoke an intense backlash in his own reelection bid.