Rep. Bush says she’s moving office away from Greene’s for safety

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said Friday that she’s moving her office away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) for her safety.

The progressive lawmaker accused Greene and her staff of berating her in a hallway, adding that the Georgia Republican targeted her on Twitter.

“A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media,” Bush tweeted. “I’m moving my office away from hers for my team’s safety.”

“I’ve called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote,” she continued.

A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media.

I’m moving my office away from hers for my team’s safety.

I’ve called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote.

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 29, 2021

H. Res 25, which was introduced following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, would require the House Ethics Committee to investigate and remove lawmakers who voted to challenge President Biden’s Electoral College victory.

Bush later explained the encounter that led to her decision in a statement posted to Twitter. 

“On January 13, I was walking with my staff to vote. I was in the tunnel between the Cannon Office Building and the Capitol when Marjorie Taylor Greene came up from behind me, ranting loudly into her phone while not wearing a mask,” Bush said. 

“Out of concern for the health of my staff, other members of Congress, and their congressional staff, I repeatedly called out to her to put on a mask. Taylor Greene and her staff responded by berating me, with one staffer yelling, “Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter.” 

On Jan. 13 — after members tested positive for COVID-19 after being locked down with her on Jan. 6 — Marjorie Taylor Greene came up from behind me, loud and unmasked. I called out to her to put hers on.

Her staff yelled at me, “Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter.” pic.twitter.com/GtN5AmGrkO

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 29, 2021

The encounter took place on Jan. 13, Bush said. The House impeached former President Trump on the same day for a historic second time. 

Bush also said that Greene previously lashed out at her in a tweet on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in which Greene accused Bush of leading a mob that called for “the rape, murder, and burning of the home” of the McCloskey family in St. Louis — “thus naming me as a target to her hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. ” 

.@CoriBush did you denounce radical BLM violence and apologize to the McCloskey’s?

“Cori Bush is a BLM activist who led the mob that called for the rape, murder, and burning of the home of Patty and Mark McCloskey of St. Louis.”@AllenWest https://t.co/mpuaFYWmUA

— Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) January 18, 2021

“In the context of Taylor Greene’s repeated endorsements of executing Democratic politicians before taking office, Taylor Greene’s renewed, repeated antagonization of the movement for Black lives in the last month directed towards me personally is cause for serious concern,” Bush continued. 

“All of this led to my decision to move my office away from Taylor Greene’s for the safety of my team. My office is currently being relocated from the Longworth House Office Building. “

Taylor Greene later posted a roughly one-minute video to Twitter purporting to be the encounter with Bush, and accused the Missouri Democrat of lying about the incident. The video does not appear to show Bush at any point. 

It’s all on video!

You instigated and attacked me, not the other way around.

You got caught in a lie.

You support and encourage BLM domestic terror. You led a mob to threaten the lives of the McCloskey’s.

Stop playing the victim, Rep. @CoriBush.pic.twitter.com/ZMLGOG1WSY https://t.co/NJTQ0NRFJE

— Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) January 29, 2021

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office said it had directed the room assignment change based on the request.

The accusation from Bush comes as some House Democrats expressed feeling unsafe around certain colleagues in the weeks since the violent attack on the Capitol building.

Since then, some GOP lawmakers have flouted new security measures, with members like Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) setting off metal detectors at the Capitol with a concealed gun. Firearms are not allowed in the chamber. 

Greene herself has drawn scrutiny this week after a video surfaced that showed her taunting David Hogg, a gun control activist and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., before she was elected to Congress. 

In addition, CNN uncovered Facebook posts this week that appeared to show Greene expressed support for violence against Democrats before running for Congress. Greene has, in the past, been tied to the QAnon conspiracy theory which has alleged, in part, that various members of Congress, the media and celebrities were running a secret child sex trafficking ring. 

In response to the report from CNN, Greene characterized the article as a “hit piece” focused on her time before she ran for office. 

Updated 3:54 p.m.