This is the city. Washington, D.C. I work here, I’m a congressman. I wear a pin. My name is Swalwell.
It was Wednesday, January 6th. It was cold in Washington….
The heat is on. Hundreds of Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-Ala.) brothers-in-insurrection have been arrested and charged for the riot and deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th instigated by Donald J. Trump with the help of Brooks and Republican colleagues.
“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” Brooks told the StopTheSteal rally on The Mall. He then asked rally attendees if they were willing, like their ancestors, to sacrifice “their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes, and sometimes their lives” to fight for America. “Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America? [cheers and applause] Louder! Will you fight for America?“
No Republican officials have drawn charges yet, but Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has detectives attempting to run down Brooks for his role. Brooks is dodging being served with a lawsuit (CNN):
Federal Judge Amit Mehta, after learning of Swalwell’s inability to serve Brooks with the lawsuit, gave the Democrat’s legal team another 60 days to get to Brooks with their formal notification. The judge, however, won’t allow the US Marshals to deliver the lawsuit to the Republican congressman “due to separation of powers concerns,” Mehta wrote, after Swalwell asked for the US Marshals Service’s help.
After Swalwell — a California Democrat — sued in March, his attorneys tried to reach the Alabama Republican through calls to the congressman’s office and by sending a letter to formally provide him notice he had been sued, a necessary step in this type of court proceeding.
When they couldn’t get the lawsuit to Brooks, the Swalwell legal team hired a private investigator to find him — only to be hampered in April and May partly by the visitor lockdowns around the US Capitol complex, which were put in place for Congress’ protection after the siege, according to their filing Wednesday.
“Counsel spoke to two different staff members on two separate occasions, and each time was promised a return call that never came,” Swalwell’s attorneys wrote on Wednesday.
Following the Swalwell team’s calls, they emailed, too. “Neither Brooks nor any member of his staff has responded to his request,” their filing said.
Swallwell’s attorneys have had to hire a private investigator to find and serve Brooks. Brooks is a slippery devil.
In the suit, Swalwell alleges that former President Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Brooks broke Washington, DC, laws, including an anti-terrorism act, by inciting the riot, and that they aided and abetted violent rioters and inflicted emotional distress on members of Congress.
Swalwell claims that the four men prompted the attack on Congress with their repeated public assertions of voter fraud, their encouragement that supporters go to Washington on January 6, and in their speeches that day. Each man had told the crowd that Joe Biden’s electoral certification in Congress could be blocked, and that Trump’s supporters should fight, the lawsuit alleges.
This story is true. The names have not been changed….