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Washington (CNN)The Justice Department on Tuesday rejected a request from GOP Rep. Mo Brooks (shown speaking to MAGA mob before Capitol Hill coup attempt) to protect him from a civil lawsuit against him and former President Donald Trump concerning the January 6 insurrection.
The lawsuit was brought earlier this year by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. Brooks, an Alabama Republican, had asked the Justice Department to tell a federal court that he was acting as a government employee when he spoke at a Trump rally before the attack. If he were acting in his official capacity, he would be dropped as a defendant and replaced by the US government.
But in a court filing Tuesday, the department refused to take that step.
“The United States hereby reports that the Department has declined to issue a certification because it cannot conclude that Brooks was acting within the scope of his office or employment as a Member of Congress at the time of the incident out of which the claims in this case arose,” the Justice Department wrote in a filing. “In light of the Department’s declination, the United States should not be substituted as a defendant in this action.”
The Justice Department ultimately concluded that Brooks’ activities at the rally were political in nature — pro-Trump electioneering — and thus not part of his official responsibilities.
