WASHINGTON — South Carolina U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman is responding to a report that he called for martial law over the results of the 2020 election, a move which he says was done out of frustration.
The political news website The Talking Points Memo reported Monday night on a series of text messages between former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and over 30 Republican members of Congress sent in the weeks following the 2020 election. The story says those messages were turned over by Meadows to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Norman had been a strong supporter of the former president and was part of a group of lawmakers who challenged the election results.
According to the article, Norman wrote Meadows on January 17, 11 days after the Capitol attack and just three days before President Joe Biden was set to be sworn in.
"Mark, in seeing what's happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic!! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall [sic] Law!!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!"
Martial law is defined as " the temporary substitution of military authority for civilian rule and is usually invoked in time of war, rebellion, or natural disaster," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In that note the reference to Dominion is a debunked conspiracy theory that voting machines were being manipulated to change votes to Joe Biden.
Norman also reportedly sent a text to Meadows on November 7, days after the election after media outlets called the contest for Biden. "Now is the time to fight and ADVOCATE for recount in GA, AZ, Pennsylvania!"
The text goes on say that they should get together and hold a conference call for a "game plan."
News19 reached out to Norman's office for a response to the report.
“Obviously, Martial Law was never warranted," Norman said in a statement to News19. "That text message came from a source of frustration, on the heels of countless unanswered questions about the integrity of the 2020 election, without any way to slow down and examine those issues prior to the inauguration of the newly elected president.”
Norman has represented South Carolina's Fifth Congressional District-- which includes the suburbs of Charlotte in York County and stretches into the Midlands, including Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, and Sumter Counties--since 2017. He easily won reelection last November.