A federal judge rejected Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) request to have an upstate New York man pay over $60,000 for her Georgia home’s security fence.
The man—Joseph Morelli of Endicott—was previously convicted of leaving her threatening voicemail messages.
Ms Greene sought restitution of around $67,000 for construction of the fence, which included costs of reconfiguring existing security cameras, which her lawyers argued came in direct response to the threats, court papers showed.
Mr. Morelli was jailed for three months in August after pleading guilty in February to leaving voicemail messages at her Washington, D.C. office in 2022.
In one of the messages, Mr. Morelli said, “I’m gonna harm you,” and in another, threatened to “pay someone 500 bucks to take a baseball bat and crack your skull,” according to prosecutors.
Ms. Greene’s request, however, was denied by U.S. District Judge Brenda Kay Sannes on Nov. 14 because she footed the bill for personal security enhancements rather than in response to a property loss, as authorized by federal law.
Furthermore, the judge noted that Ms Greene’s attorneys established no direct link as to whether the security enhancements were necessary due to Mr. Morelli’s threats, as opposed to threats from other people.
‘Regular’ Death Threats
In a separate incident, a Georgia man was arrested earlier this month on federal charges. The man is accused of threatening Ms Greene, as well as staff members and their families.
Sean Cirillo, 34, who lives near Atlanta, is alleged to have called Ms. Greene’s Washington office twice on Nov. 8, threatening to cause harm, for which he was charged with transmitting interstate threats. The case is currently under FBI investigation.
In the call, Mr. Cirillo claims to be a major donor before unleashing a series of threats, reported ABC’s News Channel 9.
“I’m going to kill her next week. I’m going to murder her. You don’t think you’re going to get payback? You’re going to die. Your family is going to die,” Mr. Cirillo can be heard screaming at the top of his lungs.
An initial hearing in the case was conducted on Nov. 13. Mr. Cirillo was ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Nov. 16, online court records showed.
Ms. Greene has stated that death threats aimed at her occur on a regular, almost daily basis and that her district office in Dalton had to be closed as a result of threats.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
