DOJ Leaves Mo Brooks Out To Dry In Insurrection Lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Justice has refused to defend Mo Brooks in a lawsuit filed by Democratic lawmaker Eric Swalwell over Brooks' alleged role in inciting the Capitol Riots. Brooks had tried to argue that his appearance at the Stop The Steal rally earlier in the day on January 6th was part of his "official duty" as an elected representative, but the DOJ wasn't buying that excuse. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what happens now for Brooks.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Republican Congressman Mo Brooks was dealt a stunning blow by the United States Department of Justice this week, when the DOJ told him, we're not going to represent you, we're not going to defend you in that lawsuit you've been hit with from Democratic lawmaker, Eric Swalwell, for your alleged role in inciting the January 6th riot. Now, Brooks Had tried to argue using the Westfall Act that his appearance at that Stop the Steal rally earlier in the day on January 6th, he was appearing there in his official duties as a United States Congressman. He was there as a Congressman, he was only there because he was a Congressman. So yeah, it would seem to reason, right, that that was totally within his official duties. Except that showing up at the rally was not an official duty that he had to do. It was voluntary. And then of course there were his words, which the DOJ said, hey, once you said these words, that really falls out of the scope of official duties that would make the DOJ have to protect you under the Westfall Act.

So what were those words? Let's remind everybody. Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking. Now our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives to give us their descendants, an America that is the greatest nation in world history. So I have a question for you. Are you willing to do the same? My answer is, yes. Louder. Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America? Louder. We, will you fight for America? Yeah. Uh, to me kind of seems like you're gearing these people up, giving them the pep talk before you tell them to go start kicking. So, so yeah, uh, Mo, it really seems there like incited the riot, and I don't think saying the words that you said that I just read really falls under any of the actual duties of a United States Representative. So it is what it is. You've now lost protection from the United States Department of Justice. You're going this on your own.

You're going to have to answer the tough questions by yourself. You're going to have to pay for your legal counsel on your own. But don't worry folks. I'm sure Mo Brooks can probably set up a legal defense fund where Republicans will fork over millions of dollars so that this treasonous member of the House of Representatives can get the best legal counsel money can buy. And I will say, these lawsuits, the one filed by Swalwell, it's a very difficult thing to prove. I support the lawsuit as I've said wholeheartedly, but I still think it is destined to fail. The one exception to that might be Mo Brooks, because you heard those words I just read. It's really hard to interpret that as anything other than telling these people to go fight, to go possibly die and of course start kicking. To me, that's unequivocal. But I'm not going to be on that jury so I don't really have a say in it. I can only offer my opinion there. But I think his words really do speak for themselves. It's clear to me that that was Mo Brooks' intention that day. And I hope this lawsuit makes him pay for it.