US congresswoman: I did not call for violent capitol insurrection

US Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has denied calling for an "insurrection" at a trial to determine whether she can run for re-election.

The Georgia lawmaker is being tried under a Civil War era law that bars officials from holding office if they violate their oath to protect the US.

Ms Greene is a close ally of Donald Trump and one of the Republican party's most right-wing members in Congress.

Democrats charge that she played a key role in the 6 January US Capitol riot.

On Friday, Ms Greene became the first sitting lawmaker to testify under oath about her role in the attack, which happened in 2021 as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's election victory over Mr Trump.

She testified to the Georgia courtroom that she "had no knowledge of any attempt" to illegally interfere with vote counting in Congress that day.

She also repeated false claims that Mr Trump actually won the election despite "a tremendous amount of voter fraud".

The case centres around a provision of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution - the "Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause" - which prohibits US officeholders from running again if they "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof".

Observers say that Democrats may seek to use the same argument to bar Mr Trump from running if he attempts to throw his hat into the 2024 presidential election.

In a filing ahead of the trial, lawyers for Ms Greene said that she "vigorously denies that she aided and engaged in insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power".

In court, Ms Greene told lawyers "I don't support violence of any kind," and denied having ever called for violence.

Her lawyers have described her support for the 6 January rally in Washington as protected speech under the US Constitution's First Amendment, which covers right to free expression.

The effort to ban Ms Greene from running is being led by Free Speech for People, a group that advocates for campaign finance reform. A similar suit against North Carolina Republican Madison Cawthorn was dismissed by a federal judge last month.

If the prosecution is successful, Ms Greene will be barred from running in her heavily-Republican leaning district in November's Mid-term elections, when Republicans are widely expected to re-take the House of Representatives.

The case comes as lawmakers continue to investigate the Capitol riot, and the FBI conducts a separate criminal investigation into the deadly violence that unfolded that day.

In a separate development on Friday, leaked audio from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy found that he told Republicans days after the riot that Trump bears some responsibility for the attack, and should consider resigning.

After initially criticising Mr Trump publicly, the California Republican later walked back on his criticism and refused to work with Democrats in Congress to investigate the attack.