Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is filing a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and some of his allies for alleged roles in the lead-up to the U.S. Capitol riot that occurred on Jan. 6.
The Democratic lawmaker filed a civil claim on Friday against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).
He alleges they “[incited] an attack against the Capitol that terrorized lawmakers and prevented us from certifying the votes for the American people.”
“Unable to accept defeat, Donald Trump waged an all out war on a peaceful transition of power. He lied to his followers again and again claiming the election was stolen from them,” Swalwell wrote in a statement.
“As a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendant’s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol and stopped Congress’s counting of electoral college votes.”
“The Defendants assembled, inflamed, and incited the mob, and as such are wholly responsible for the injury and destruction that followed,” Swalwell added.
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1367833761468059650
The complaint is 65 pages long. It was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The complaint reads:
“The peaceful transfer of power is a sacrament of American democracy. 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.”
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has sued former President Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and GOP Rep. Mo Brooks in a second major lawsuit seeking to hold Trump and his allies accountable for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6https://t.co/dHfrwmGGSR pic.twitter.com/9vGHpq6MSp
— CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish (@CNNThisMorning) March 5, 2021
Donald Trump spoke at the “Save America Rally” in Washington, D.C., held before protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 when lawmakers were certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.
The former president’s allies and family also spoke at the rally, including Brooks, his personal attorney Giuliani, and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr.
