Justice Department lawyers said Tuesday night that they will not defend Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) from a lawsuit over the riots at the U.S. Capitol, saying they do not believe the lawmaker was acting in his official capacity when he spoke at a Jan. 6 rally ahead of the violence.

Brooks had asked that the counts against him in the civil lawsuit from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) be dismissed and the U.S. take over for him as a defendant in the case, arguing he was acting in his official capacity when he spoke at a rally at the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6. Legal experts said, due to past precedent and a recent decision by the Biden DOJ to keep up its defense of Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit, that government lawyers might have to side with Brooks’ request.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]