Justice Department declines to represent Congressman Mo Brooks in January 6 lawsuit
CBSN
Washington — The Justice Department on Tuesday rejected a request by Congressman Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, to defend him in a civil lawsuit filed against him by fellow Congressman Eric Swalwell of California for his role in the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
In a filing with the federal district court in the District of Columbia, Justice Department officials said Brooks' appearance at the January 6 rally outside the White House was "campaign activity" and argued inciting an attack on the Capitol, as alleged by Swalwell, falls outside the breadth of a lawmakers' employment. "[T]he complaint alleges that Brooks engaged in conduct that, if proven, would plainly fall outside the scope of employment for an officer or employee of the United States: conspiring to prevent the lawful certification of the 2020 election and to injure members of Congress and inciting the riot at the Capitol," the Justice Department told the court. "Alleged action to attack Congress and disrupt its official functions is not conduct a member of Congress is employed to perform."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.