Marjorie Taylor Greene complains to the Pentagon that she was 'harassed' after the Guam National Guard accompanied their Democrat lawmaker to her office with cookies after she mistakenly said it was not part of US
Marjorie Taylor Greene has complained to the Pentagon that she was 'harassed' and 'ambushed' after a Democrat representative for Guam asked the island's National Guard to accompany him bringing cookies to her - after she claimed Guam was a foreign country.
Michael San Nicholas, a Democrat who serves as Guam's only delegate to the House of Representatives, led about three dozen troops to Greene's office on Monday to deliver cookies and posted a video of it to social media.
The congresswoman's staff told him she was not in her office.
Michael San Nicholas on Monday took a basked of cookies to Marjorie Taylor Greene
He made the gesture after Greene listed Guam as a foreign nation, along with Russia and China
San Nicholas took along a delegation of his territory's National Guard with him on Monday
Taylor Greene, a strongly pro-Trump Republican representing Georgia, appeared last month to not known that Guam was a U.S. territory.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), she said: 'We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what? China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam, whatever, wherever.'
San Nicholas, 40, took the opportunity to bring some of his fellow islanders when he visited Greene.
On Tuesday she sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Guard Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson, complaining of the 'harassment'.
'In recent days, there has been a dangerous and troubling trend in which members of our armed forces are being used to intimidate civilians, harass members of Congress and their staff, and attack conservative journalists for expressing their views,' Greene wrote.
'Imagine if I, or any of my Republican colleagues from Georgia, marched with members of the Georgia National Guard over to a Democrat Member of Congress' office to ambush and record their staff.'
Kevin McCarthy, the most senior Republican in the House, was also unamused by the Guam National Guard's presence.
Greene, a Georgia congresswoman, reacted angrily to San Nicholas' gesture
Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, said he felt it was inappropriate to bring the Guard
Defense Department Directive 1344.10 forbids troops from participating in any partisan political activities while in uniform.
Service members are allowed to engage in virtually any political activity out of uniform, but the activity cannot be perceived as being endorsed by the military.
It is unclear whether Monday's event violated any of those rules. No soldier in the video advocated for any political action, and simply meeting with a member of Congress in uniform is not against any military policy.
'@DeptofDefense is being politicized. Uniformed service members recently criticized a private citizen for his First Amendment rights, & today a Dem lawmaker used soldiers in a political stunt against a GOP member,' McCarthy wrote on Twitter on Monday. '@SecDef Austin—This sets a dangerous precedent. It must stop now.'
But San Nicolas scoffed at Republican criticisms of the visit, and denied 'using military service members for political props.'
'I was taking my Guardsmen on a tour of the Capitol, and we stopped by several members' offices, and we delivered some goodies,' San Nicolas told CNN.
'Cookies should never be considered a political prop, and neither should our military.
'But goodwill is absolutely something that we wish to extend from Guam to everybody.'
Major Gen. Esther Aguigui, adjutant general of the Guam National Guard, said the incident was in good spirit.
'We appreciate Congressman San Nicolas' efforts to represent our culture of Inafa' Maolek, or bringing harmony, practiced here in Guam,' Aguigui said in a statement, according to Politico.
'We also thank Congresswoman Greene for ultimately helping raise awareness of Guamanians as citizens of the United States, and our rich tradition of service and sacrifice to our nation.
'As a non-partisan entity, the Guam National Guard is here to continue this legacy of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and the freedoms it provides,' she said.
