Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, and the NAACP on Tuesday filed a case against former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, accusing them of conspiring with two extremist groups to block the count of presidential votes by the US Capitol storm.
The lawsuit, the first over the Capitol riot to name Trump, said the attack was’ the intended and foreseeable outcome of a closely coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process needed to get the votes of the expanded votes in to confirm the Electoral College. ‘
Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, said in response: “President Trump did not plan, produce or organize the January 6 rally at the Ellipse. President Trump did not incite or conspire on January 6 to commit any violence at the Capitol to hit. “
Thompson and the NAACP said Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the swearers share a common goal “to use intimidation, harassment and threats” to stop the count. The riot was a “direct, intended and predictable consequence” of the conspiracy, he said.
Their case appealed to the Civil Rights Act of 1871, commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which allows lawsuits against government officials for allegations that they conspired to violate civil rights. It was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington by a law firm specializing in such cases, Cohen, Millstein, Sellers & Toll.
Their complaint included many of the claims the House of Representatives made against Trump during the Senate indictment and included the allegations made by the FBI in court documents accompanying criminal charges against members of the Proud Boys and Eath Keepers.
By repeatedly claiming that the election was stolen, Trump and Giuliani mobilized supporters and supported armed protesters and rejected the pleas to cool the rhetoric. At the Jan. 6 rally near the White House, the two “began to ignite the anger of the crowd and urged them to take action to seize control of the process for counting and approving the ballot papers for the Electoral College.”
The case is also quoted in detail from the remarks made by Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, in the Senate’s minority leader, after the Senate voted on Saturday to acquit Trump, including his statement that ‘there is no doubt that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events. of that day. ‘
The case asks a judge to rule that the actions of the accused violate federal law and demand unspecified monetary damages.
Former presidents are exempt from litigation over their official actions while in office, but they can be sued for conduct that was not part of their duties.
The accused are likely to take the next legal step by filing a motion to dismiss the case. If the lawsuit survives the original move, the plaintiffs will begin seeking evidence through the discovery process.
