The impeachment is over, but the lawsuits are just beginning.
Eric Swalwell is suing Donald Trump, Don Jr., Rudy, and Mo Brooks for their part in inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection. This follows a lawsuit filed by Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, who is using a post-Civil War law designed to fight the Ku Klux Klan to sue the Republican inciters.
Part of the filing (PDF) reads as follows:
As a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendants’ express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol. Many participants in the attack have since revealed that they were acting on what they believed to be former President Trump’s orders in service of their country. ...The horrific events of January 6 were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ unlawful actions. As such, the Defendants are responsible for the injury and destruction that followed.
One is reminded that the bar of proof for a civil lawsuit is lower than for a criminal complaint or an impeachment where half the jury is protecting their so-called president. These suits may hold Trump Co. accountable where the Republicans in the Senate would not.
