U.S. Won't Defend Rep. Mo Brooks For Speaking At Pro-Trump Rally On Jan. 6

The Department of Justice said the Alabama Republican's speech before the Capitol attack was "not within the scope" of his employment.

The Department of Justice said Tuesday that Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) was not acting in the scope of his official duties as a congressman when he gave a speech to Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6, saying the lawmaker is not protected by laws that shield members of Congress from legal action. The determination comes amid a lawsuit filed this year by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) against Brooks, former President Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani. The suit accuses the trio of inciting the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol as Trump and his surrogates continued to spread lies that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him. “The record indicates that Brooks’s appearance at the January 6 rally was campaign activity, and it is no part of the business of the United States to pick sides among candidates in federal elections,” the agency wrote. Official later added: “Inciting or conspiring to foment a violent attack on the United States Congress is not within the scope of employment of a Representative — or any federal employee — and thus is not the sort of conduct for which the United States is properly substituted as a defendant under the Westfall Act.”