Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene shared a link to a Twitter video which showed her holding up partially obscured nude images of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, in an email circulated to her newsletter mailing list on Wednesday. Some are asking whether that email could have been sent to minors.
Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff and communications director for Democratic Representative Don Beyer, first raised the question in tweets on Wednesday where he shared a screenshot of Greene's email.
Greene showed the nude pictures during a GOP-led House Oversight Committee's hearing featuring two IRS whistleblowers who have alleged that the IRS gave Hunter Biden preferential treatment during a federal investigation into his taxes. Parts of the images were obscured.
Newsweek has reached out to Greene's office via email for comment.
When reached for comment by Newsweek on Thursday morning, Fritschner said he had nothing further to add.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene just sent this email to her constituents (yes this using official, taxpayer-funded resources). I clicked the link so you don't have to, it is exactly what you think," Fritschner tweeted, sharing the screenshot of the email.
The email, which was shared with Newsweek on Thursday, contained a video screen icon that carried a warning saying: "The following images are disturbing" and "Parental discretion is advised."
Clicking on that link opens a Twitter video showing Greene's comments at the hearing and her holding up the images in question. A press release on Greene's website contains the same content as the email.
The email also contained a transcript of Greene's comments during the hearing, including when she had said "Parental discretion is advised" before showing the images.
In a later tweet, Fritschner added: "I double checked and there isn't an age screen on her eNewsletter subscription page. So a distinct possibility that Marjorie Taylor Greene just emailed links to video containing nude images of Hunter Biden to minors using taxpayer-funded resources."
There is no evidence at this time that Greene's email has been seen by minors and any suggestion that the email may have broken the law is speculation.
That link is in the form of a video screen that displays the warnings "The following images are disturbing" and "Parental discretion is advised."
Anyone can sign up for Greene's email updates on the House of Representatives' website by providing their email address and completing a captcha. While there are fields for first name and last name, these are not required.
Newsletter signups for members of Congress are not uniform—Representative Beyer's, for example, has first name and last name as required fields and also asks those signing up to indicate the topics that most interest them, though answering this is not required.
Congressional newsletters do not generally ask someone to provide their age.
Fritschner added in another tweet: "Going to check in on Georgia's revenge porn statute just, you know, in case" and subsequently shared a screenshot of a Georgia statute from 2020 that deals with "Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions," among other matters.
The updated 2022 statute—GA Code § 16-11-90 (2022)—defines "nudity" in part as "the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state."
Newsweek has reached out to legal experts for their views on the matter.
Other Twitter users shared Fritschner's tweets, with liberal PAC MeidasTouch writing: "Marjorie Taylor Greene just emailed revenge porn of Hunter Biden to minors?!?"
"Marjorie Taylor Greene may have sent pornographic images of Hunter Biden to minors on her email list," tweeted Twitter account The Fact Checker, also sharing Fritschner's tweets.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene needs to be held accountable! Sending an electronic newsletter with porn pics to the public and potentially minors is a crime! Lock her up now!" tweeted user BellaMia.
Attorney Andrew Lieb told Newsweek via email on Wednesday that Greene is likely protected from any legal action by Hunter Biden for showing the images during the committee hearing due to her and all members of Congress being protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution.
"Yes, it's true that the statute has an exception to its applicability for a matter of public concern or public interest, but you need to ask yourself: why is this a matter of your interest?" Lieb said. "It's certainly not part of my interest."
Greene defended her decision to show the images during the hearing in an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, saying the photos were "the evidence that I believe the American people deserve to see because when the American people can see this evidence, as uncomfortable as it was for me to show it on the Oversight Committee today, I believe that's how they can hold this government accountable."
Update 07/20/23, 08.20 a.m. E.T.: This article has been updated to clarify that the email sent by Greene contained a link to a Twitter video, which showed her holding up partially obscured nude images of Hunter Biden during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
