After several days of avoidance, a lawsuit filed against Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) has finally been served by legal representatives of his legislative colleague Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), who alleges the staunch ally of former President Donald Trump played a significant role in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol building on January 6.
The lawsuit names Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., the president’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Brooks as having played a part in riling up a crowd of hundreds that had gathered that morning to hear Trump speak. Those individuals, the suit also alleges, encouraged the mob of Trump loyalists to go to the Capitol while Congress was certifying the results of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
“The peaceful transfer of power is a sacrament of American democracy,” the lawsuit states. “Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., his advisor Rudy Giuliani, and Congressman Mo Brooks, together with many others, defiled that sacrament through a campaign of lies and incendiary rhetoric which led to the sacking of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
In finally receiving the complaint on Sunday, Brooks alleged that Swalwell’s legal team had unlawfully broken into his home, serving the paperwork to his wife in an inappropriate manner.
“Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE),” Brooks wrote in a tweet. “HORRIBLE Swalwell’s team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!”
Brooks’s claims — which, before being deleted and tweeted again, had initially included an image of a PIN number and a Gmail account password — have been refuted by Swalwell’s legal representatives.
“No one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks’ house,” said Philip Andonian, an attorney for Swalwell who spoke to CNN on the matter. “That allegation is completely untrue. A process server lawfully served the papers on Mo Brooks’ wife, as the federal rules allow. This was after her initial efforts to avoid service.”
Andonian further blamed Brooks himself for the drama that was created around his wife being served the lawsuit instead of the congressman.
“Mo Brooks has no one but himself to blame for the fact that it came to this,” Andonian said. “We asked him to waive service, we offered to meet him at a place of his choosing. Instead of working things out like a civilized person, he engaged in a juvenile game of Twitter trolling over the past few days and continued to evade service. He demanded that we serve him. We did just that.”
A spokesperson for Brooks said that there is video evidence backing up the Alabama Republican’s claims. However, that video has not been made public as of yet.
According to Swalwell’s lawsuit, during Brooks’s speech on January 6, he encouraged Trump supporters who had gathered in front of the White House to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”
“Our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes, and sometimes their lives, to give us, their descendants, an America that is the greatest nation in world history,” Brooks also said during his speech. “So I have a question for you: Are you willing to do the same? My answer is yes.”
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