Representative Eric Swalwell Sues Trump and His Allies Over Capitol Attack

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Last updated on March 7th, 2021 at 04:52 am

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his allies for inciting the Capitol insurrection of January 6, which took place after Trump urged a mob of his supporters to march on the United States Capitol and overturn the electoral certification of President Joe Biden‘s 2020 election win.

The 65-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., names Trump, his son Donald Trump, Jr., his attorney Rudy Giuliani, and Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) of inciting the insurrection against Congress as well as violating D.C. and federal laws.

“The horrific events of January 6 were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ unlawful actions,” the complaint states. “As such, the Defendants are responsible for the injury and destruction that followed.”

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Last month, Trump, Giuliani, and the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were accused of conspiring to incite the insurrection, according to a new lawsuit from Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The suit was filed in a federal court in Washington under the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 statute that includes protections against any violence that might interfere with Congress or its mandate.

“The Defendants each intended to prevent, and ultimately delayed, members of Congress from discharging their duty commanded by the United States Constitution to approve the results of the Electoral College in order to elect the next President and Vice President of the United States,” the lawsuit said. “Pursuing a purpose shared by Defendants Trump and Giuliani as well as Defendant Proud Boys, Defendant Oath Keepers played a leadership role of the riotous crowd and provided military-style assistance sufficient to overcome any Capitol Police resistance.”

Trump’s attorneys have denied that he incited the insurrection and made that the focal point of their case during his recent impeachment trial, which ended in an acquittal. Republicans who voted against convicting the former president suggested it would be unconstitutional to impeach and try a president who is no longer in office, adding that it would be more prudent to litigate Trump in federal court.