Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has hired a private investigator to locate and follow Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) as he attempts to sue him for alleged culpability in the Capitol riot on January 6.
Swalwell, an eager participant in the “Russia collusion” conspiracy theory and in attempts to impeach President Donald Trump, has never been sued for his role.
But the failed former presidential candidate is suing Brooks, along with Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Though he and Brooks share the same office building, Swalwell cannot serve process — notification of the lawsuit — on Brooks, meaning that the legal process cannot commence. He claims Brooks is ducking service — which Brooks denies.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday:
D.C. District Judge Amit Mehta granted Swalwell an additional 60 days to attempt to serve Brooks, but declined his lawyers’ request to enlist the help of the U.S. marshals to do so.
Brooks’ co-defendants in the case — the former president, his son Donald Trump Jr., and his attorney and friend Rudy Giuliani — have all waived service and already filed legal motions to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that their words and actions are not responsible for the riot and are protected by the Constitution and that Swalwell is just trying to score political points.
Late Thursday, Brooks called the lawsuit petty politics in a statement to The Chronicle, saying Swalwell and his legal team had ample ways to reach him including “dozens” of public appearances.
“It is the plaintiff’s job to serve a lawsuit on a defendant, not the other way around,” Brooks said. “I am avoiding no one. I have altered my conduct not one iota since Swalwell’s politically motivated, meritless lawsuit was filed.”
In 2019, Swalwell qualified for the first Democratic presidential primary debate, largely on the strength of his single-minded focus on gun control. He dropped out of the race shortly thereafter, but not before hiring a junkanoo band.
Earlier this year, Swalwell falsely claimed that rioters “killed a cop,” and claimed Sen. Ted Cruz was friends with “Nazis.”
After Demcorats’ failure to convict former President Trump in February, Swalwell declared himself ready for “bipartisanship” again.
Swalwell has remained on the House Intelligence COmmittee, despite an alleged former relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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