The lawsuit, filed by Mississippi Democratic Rep. Introduced in his personal capacity, Bennie Thompson is the first civilian action filed against the former president in connection with the attack on the American Capitol. This comes days after the Senate acquitted Trump in his indictment.
If it continued, it would mean that the former president and others would be subject to discovery and deposition, which would potentially expose details and evidence not announced during the Senate hearing.
Thompson points to Trump’s words and tweets in the months before the uprising to accuse Trump and Giuliani of mobilizing their supporters and preparing for an attack to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results on January 6.
The case mentions a rarely used federal statute adopted after the Civil War and intended to combat violence by the Ku Klux Klan; it allows civil actions against people who use ‘violence, intimidation or threat’ to prevent someone from performing the duties of their office.
This story is breaking and will be updated.