The Democratic congressman claims Trump directly instigated the violence.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday indicted former President Donald Trump and some of his allies, including his son, Donald Trump Jr., personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and GOP Rep. Mo Brooks on their alleged role in the events leading up to and surrounding the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
In the 65-page lawsuit, Swalwell, who was a House impeachment manager during Trump’s second senate trial, alleges that they all directly incited the violence in the Capitol by issuing “a clear call to action” to which the crowd responded.
“Trump immediately instigated the violence in the Capitol that followed and then watched with approval as the building was inundated,” the lawsuit claims.
“While Trump was instructing them to go to the Capitol, insurgents were already pushing their way through barricades, trying to break through the building, shooting Trump’s speech into a megaphone,” it says.
It also alleges that the defendants also violated federal laws, including DC’s anti-terrorism law.
After failing miserably with two impeachment hoaxes, [Swalwell is] He attacked our greatest president in another witch hunt, “Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told ABC News in response to the lawsuit.” It’s a shame that a compromised congressman like Swalwell is still on the House Intelligence Committee. “
In a statement to ABC News in January, Trump campaign officials denied that active members of the team were involved in the planning of the pre-riot rally.
No one named in the suit has yet to comment on the allegations.
Swalwell claims in the statement that the events at the Capitol were “a direct and foreseeable consequence of the unlawful actions of the defendants,” and in a statement on his Twitter account, Swalwell said they all bear responsibility for the injury and destruction that occurred. followed.
“ As a direct and foreseeable consequence of the defendants ‘false and inflammatory allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the defendants’ express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the Capitol and halted Congress counting the electoral colleges. The defendants rallied, lit and set the crowd ablaze, and as such are fully responsible for the injury and destruction that followed, “the lawsuit claims.
It is the second lawsuit of its kind seeking to hold the former president and his loved ones accountable for their actions leading up to and around January 6.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, claimed in a lawsuit last month that Trump, Giuliani the Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers conspired to violate the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which of action to prevent Congress from carrying out its duties when they sparked the January 6 riot in the Capitol.