GOP Rep. and insurrection inciter Mo Brooks claimed on Thursday that he’s “not hiding” after a report that Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell had to hire a private investigator to locate the Alabama Republican for a lawsuit seeking to hold him accountable for the January 6 Capitol attack on the US Capitol.
Brooks argued that he had not changed his behavior and had been publicly accessible while not mentioning where he is.
Brooks issued a statement through a spokesman saying that that he’s not avoiding the lawsuit and suggested the California Democrat could have handed him the suit during a House vote. He also criticized Swalwell’s unsuccessful request to use federal marshals to serve the lawsuit, which a judge said this week wouldn’t be allowed because of separation of powers concerns.
“I am avoiding no one. I have altered my conduct not one iota since Swalwell’s politically motivated, meritless lawsuit was filed,” the statement says, according to CNN.
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However, as noted in the report, serving a congressman on the House floor is difficult because Swalwell himself isn’t able to do it under federal rules. A process server has to personally find Brooks to get him served. It is also possible for Brooks to have his staff or his lawyer help him accept the lawsuit, but they haven’t done that.
The response from Brooks comes after Swalwell’s attorneys asked in a court filing Wednesday for additional time to try to get the lawsuit to Brooks.
Brooks’ co-defendants, including ex-President Donald Trump, had lawyers who accepted the lawsuit for each of them.
Trump has already argued in court that he can’t be liable for the insurrection because he was president at the time.
The lawsuit alleges that 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.
The suit also 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.
Prior to the attack, Brooks told a pro-Trump crowd on January 6: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” He then asked the rally attendees if they were willing to fight.
