On Thursday, The New York Timesreported that far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spent $183,000 on security since January — the largest such expenditure by any candidate for Congress.
"From January to May, Ms. Greene spent nearly $183,000 of campaign funds to retain the KaJor Group, a private security company that has also been used by Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot three men, two fatally, at a 2020 protest against police violence in Kenosha, Wis," reported Alyce McFadden. "Since January, Ms. Greene, who won the Republican nomination to retain her seat on Tuesday, has made monthly payments of $41,420 to $49,551 to the company, which highlights its ability to 'invoke righteousness in the most uncertain and inconceivable of times.'"
"Federal candidates’ expenditures on security details have skyrocketed in recent years, mirroring increases in reported threats against lawmakers. Campaigns have spent a record-breaking $4.3 million on personal security since December 2020, according to new data from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in politics," said the report. "From 2017 to 2021, the number of threats made to federal lawmakers doubled, according to data provided to The New York Times by the Capitol Police. Since the end of March, the Capitol Police’s threat assessment division has opened roughly 1,820 cases, putting it on pace to surpass the 9,625 cases it opened last year."
Greene has been subject to threats before. A man in Endicott, New York was arrested in March after leaving voicemail threats of "physical harm" to the congresswoman.
The explosion in spending on security was turbocharged last year by a Federal Election Commission ruling that such expenditures are a lawful use of campaign money.
Greene, who won re-nomination for her seat earlier this week, is a constant target of controversy. She has espoused belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory, suggested extreme weather events are being caused by Jewish space lasers, and was stripped of her House committee assignments after it was revealed she endorsed the killing of prominent Democrats on social media.