'It’s a crime': Legal experts say Marjorie Taylor Greene may have admitted to violating federal law

By closely allying herself with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has become much more of an insider than she was a year ago. But Greene is no less a conspiracy theorist than she was in 2021 or 2022, and that includes bribery claims she has been making against President Joe Biden.

The far-right MAGA congresswoman is claiming, without proof, that the FBI is covering up bribery she alleges Biden committed. During a Thursday night, June 8 appearance on Fox News, Greene told host Laura Ingraham that she read a Biden-related document inside a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF).

Greene's critics, however, are saying that instead of making Biden look bad, she may have admitted to committing a federal crime.

Greene, known for promoting QAnon's conspiracy theories and claiming that "Jewish space lasers" were responsible for wildfires in California, told Ingraham, "This is a document that all of America should be able to see. But the FBI is stonewalling us, and they would only let us see it in a SCIF. Well, what I did after reading the document is I made notes when I walked out and I went to the table. And I wrote down everything that I had just read so that I could come out and tell the American people what I read."

A SCIF is used for highly sensitive information, and in most cases, members of Congress are not allowed to repeat information they see inside the facility.

Attorney Mark S. Zaid, in response to Greene's comments on "The Ingraham Angle," tweeted, "Hey @FBI, if this information was classified sounds to me like the Congresswoman is admitting to a crime. And if it was not, @SpeakerMcCarthy should remove her privileges for violating the trust she was afforded as a Member of Congress to review sensitive information."

Retired law professor Christopher G. Moore stressed that taking notes on information viewed inside a SCIF and later discussing it on cable news is a violation of federal law.

In a June 9 tweet, Moore posted, "The right to remain silent is apparently not taught in MAGA schools. For those with security clearance it is their duty under penalty of law to remain silent. These basic concepts are alien to Greene and her fanatical supporters."

Journalist Kaz Weida said of Greene, "I don't know who needs to hear this, but this is also mishandling of classified documents and it's a crime."

Similarly, USA Today columnist Rex Huppke tweeted, "The GOP really needs to get people who are better at doing crimes, because this one was like, 'HEY, EXCUSE ME, IS THERE A CAMERA I CAN DO THIS CRIME IN FRONT OF, PLEASE?'"