It took quite a while, but California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s legal team was finally able to serve fellow congressman Mo Brooks with a civil lawsuit accusing Brooks of helping provoke the January 6th Insurrection. Brooks himself confirmed it with a tweet Sunday, in which he accused the California lawmaker’s attorneys of breaking the law and harassing his wife.
Swalwell’s lawyers directly refuted the Alabama legislator’s claim that any crime was committed in the process of serving the paperwork. Attorney Matthew Kaiser told CNN Sunday that a private investigator had left the legal papers with Brooks’ wife at their home in Alabama. Philip Andonian, another member of Swalwell’s legal team, said Brooks’ comments were patently false.
“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.”
As has been previously reported, Swalwell’s lawyers have been trying to serve Brooks with the lawsuit for weeks, only to have lawmaker duck their calls and avoid them at all costs. During his comments to CNN, Andonian slammed Brooks for going to extreme measures to avoid being served.
“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.”
Philip anadonian
Swalwell’s attorneys are expected to formally inform the judge that Brooks has been served with the papers. That will be accompanied by a sworn affidavit from the process server. This part of the process is important in a case like this, because it starts a clock in court for the defendant, Brooks, to respond to Swalwell’s accusations.
Swalwell’s civil suit accuses former President Donald Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Brooks of breaking Washington, DC, laws, including an anti-terrorism act, by inciting the riot with their speeches at the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6th.
The former President, his son and Giuliani have acknowledged receiving the lawsuit already, but say their worlds that day are constitutionally protected and that they did nothing wrong.
