According to reports, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) hired a private investigator to track down his colleague Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) to serve him a lawsuit for what Swalwell claimed responsibility for the Capitol riot on January 6.
Swalwell has been unable to employ the aid of federal marshals to serve the suit because D.C. District Court Judge Amit Mehta cited separation of power concerns.
Brooks, a Republican candidate in Alabama’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, insisted during an interview with Mobile, AL radio FM Talk 106.5 he was not avoiding Swalwell.
He also pointed that as a candidate for U.S. Senate, he has made dozens of public appearances throughout his home state of Alabama.
“The lawsuit is pure politics,” he said. “Any attorney worth his salt would have had me served long ago. Keep in mind that under the law, it is the plaintiff’s job to serve the defendant. The defendant doesn’t have to go searching for a lawsuit. And today, they have failed to serve me. And this idea that I’m hiding out somehow — that’s absurd. You’ve seen me publicly. I’ve been in Mobile at the USS Mobile commissioning. I was at the Alabama District Attorneys Association over in Point Clear speaking to them.”
“I’ve been all over the state of Alabama in public settings,” Brooks continued. “Better yet, I’ve been on the House floor about a hundred times — at the same time, Eric Swalwell has been on the House floor voting. He gets notice in advance when those votes are going to take place. I get notice in advance when those votes are going to take place. We both go vote at the same. It’s just absurd. But I’m not going to help him out. He’s got to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and comply with the legal requirements. To date, he has utterly failed at doing that.”
The Alabama congressman said should he be served that he expected the case to be dismissed but warned that in the D.C. circuit, there were “activist judges.”
Brooks speculated the lawsuit could be used as a distraction from Swalwell’s own problems, including allegations of a romantic relationship with a Chinese spy.
“This guy is not a very honorable person,” Brooks said. “He’s a far-left-wing socialist. He came to Alabama not that long ago and attacked the Second Amendment right to bear arms and told someone in the audience that if people won’t voluntarily give up their firearms, then he’ll send the police out to go get them. The problem in Alabama with that kind of statement is the police are on our side.”
Brooks goaded Swalwell at the end of the appearance by saying he would see him next time he was back in Washington, D.C.
“Eric Swalwell, if you’re out there, I’ll see you the next time we’re in Washington,” he added.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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