Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has finally served Rep. Mo Brooks with a lawsuit accusing the Alabama Republican and other supporters of former President Donald Trump of being responsible for provoking the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, The Hill reported on Sunday.
The serving of the lawsuit came days after Swalwell’s lawyers said they were having difficulties locating Brooks.
Brooks wrote on Twitter on Sunday that “Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE). HORRIBLE Swalwell’s team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!”
Philip Andonian, an attorney for Swalwell, denied the allegations by Brooks, telling CNN that “No one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks’ house. That allegation is completely untrue. A process server lawfully served the papers on Mo Brooks’ wife, as the federal rules allow.”
Andonian continued that “This was after her initial efforts to avoid service. Mo Brooks has no one but himself to blame for the fact that it came to this. 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. The important thing is the complaint has been served and Mo Brooks can now be held accountable for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.”
Another attorney for Swalwell, Matthew Kaiser, said that after they had trouble tracking down Swalwell they hired a private investigator, who was the one who left the papers with Brooks’ wife at their home in Alabama, as is legally permitted.
Serving the papers is a crucial step in the legal process because it begins a clock in court for Brooks, the defendant, to respond to Swalwell’s accusations.
Swalwell filed the lawsuit in March and accuses Trump, his onetime personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his son Donald Trump Jr. and Brooks of instigating the riot and breaking several Washington, D.C., laws, specifically citing the “Stop the Steal” rally that occurred immediately before rioters broke into the Capitol, according to The Hill.
Trump, his son, and Giuliani have already acknowledged receiving the lawsuit, CNN reported and claim that their words on Jan. 6 did not provoke the siege on the Capitol and, in any case, are protected. They have asked a federal judge to throw out the lawsuit.
Source: Newmax
