California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who refuses to answer questions about his relationship with a Chinese communist spy and continues to serve on the House Committee on Homeland Security, is suing former President Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, and Rudy Giuliani claiming they, together with many others, defiled the promise of the peaceful transfer of power through a campaign of lies and criminal rhetoric which led to the Jan. 6 sacking of the Capitol.
Swalwell, who, appointed by Nancy Pelosi, served as a House Manager at Trump's Senate impeachment trial, filed his 65-page complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday. He is suing both Trump, Trump Jr., and Brooks in a private capacity. Swalwell claims the violent mob at the Capitol was acting under Trump's direction in a last-ditch effort to "Stop the Steal" and "be wild" as they marched to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College vote.
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According to the lawsuit, many members of Congress, including Swalwell, were trapped in the House chamber, texting their loved ones while fearing for their lives, as "rioters threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence and kill the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and they terrorized and injured scores of others, including the Plaintiff."
Of the situation, the complaint asserts that Trump, who "has a lengthy history of normalizing violence through his rhetoric and social media communications," was watching the "moment of national horror" play out on television and was "delighted" by it, and was "confused about why other people on his team weren't as excited as he was" about the unfolding of violence.
In his lawsuit, Swalwell claims that Trump and the Trump campaign began accusing the Democrats of trying to "steal the election" months before any polls opened for the 2020 election - an accusation that has since been demonstrated to be a reality. As recently reported by UncoverDC, Time Magazine published a bombshell piece in early February entitled “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign that Saved the 2020 Election” that detailed undisputed evidence of a well-coordinated "shadow campaign" put into action by Democrats as early as 2018. The intent of the operation was to "fortify" the presidential election to make sure Donald Trump lost. Mail-in ballots and controlling the narrative were a critical part of their campaign.
Play by play, Swalwell's lawsuit runs through the chronicle set forth by the "shadow campaign" describing how it all went down, asserting:
"Democrats more so than Republicans chose to vote by mail, given the starkly partisan view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Where most Republican leaders urged supporters to vote in person, Democratic leaders sought to prioritize safety and social-distancing, encouraging people to vote by mail. Mail-in ballots were often counted much later than in-person ballots. Of the battleground states that largely decided the 2020 election—Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona—Pennsylvania and Wisconsin do not begin processing mail-in ballots until election day, and only Arizona and Nevada began counting mail-in ballots earlier than election day.
Toward the end of the day on November 3, however, the returns moved in Biden’s direction, as most pundits and analysts had predicted, and Trump’s lead substantially dwindled. As his outlook soured over this news and realizing that his reelection campaign was going to be unsuccessful, Trump decided to renew his claims of voter fraud."
The suit proceeds, illustrating Trump as a sore loser. Swalwell maintains that Trump's allegations of wrongdoing in the days immediately following the election led to nationwide confrontations between his supporters and elected officials. He also declares that Trump attempted to coax and bully officials in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia into overturning the results of its election. Swalwell contends that Trump's frustration with the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security for not doing their jobs on behalf of the American people helped to establish the foundation for the Jan. 6 attack.
Relying on legacy news outlets and social media numerous times throughout his claim, Swalwell references Trump's Dec. 19 tweet regarding Peter Navarro's 36-page report alleging election fraud, where he says of the rally, "Be there, will be wild." Professing to know the former president's thinking behind the words he chooses, Swalwell insists "Trump intended his supporters to interpret his “will be wild” tweet as a call to violence, and he knew they had done just that."
Swalwell also claims in his lawsuit to know the purpose behind the words used in several speeches on Jan. 6., including when Amy Kremer, head of the group Women For America First, said, “This isn’t about stealing an election from Donald Trump, this is about stealing an election from We the People, and we are here to save the republic. You guys, we cannot back down.” According to Swalwell, Kremer is speaking to the crowd in "apocalyptic terms."
Ironically, while Swalwell serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security, there is no mention in the lawsuit of why there weren't more Capitol Police and National Guard on duty Jan. 6 since the FBI and Capitol Police were aware of the threat of violence. In fact, President Trump had requested the deployment of National Guard troops at the Capitol, but DC Mayor Muriel Bowser denied his request.
The lawsuit states nine claims for relief, including Conspiracy to Violate Civil Rights; Neglect to Prevent Interference with Civil Rights; Incitement to Riot; Disorderly Conduct; Inciting Assault, Inciting to Riot, Disorderly Conduct and Terrorism; Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress; Aiding and Abetting Common-Law Assault; and Negligence.
When asked about the fourth-term politician's most recent relentless attack on the former president, Jason Miller, Trump's spokesperson, called Swalwell a "low-life" with "no credibility," adding:
"Now, after failing miserably with two impeachment hoaxes, ‘Mr. Fang-Fang’ is doing the bidding of his Chinese masters and attacking our greatest President with yet another witch hunt. It's a disgrace that a compromised Member of Congress like Swalwell still sits on the House Intelligence Committee."
