Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has responded to a lawsuit accusing him of helping to incite the Jan. 6 insurrection by arguing that it was part of his official duties and he wouldn’t have done it if the White House hadn’t asked him to.
Brooks filed a motion on Friday to be dismissed from the lawsuit, filed in March by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). The suit alleges that former President Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Brooks were responsible for mobilizing the mob that went on to violently storm the U.S. Capitol. All four men made incendiary remarks at a thousands-strong pro-Trump rally at the Ellipse, near the White House, before the attack.
“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” Brooks said at the rally. He repeated Trump’s baseless claims that the November presidential election had been stolen and asked if those in the crowd were ready to fight.
