Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) was served with a lawsuit filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), according to Brooks and an attorney for Swalwell.
The Republican lawmaker noted on Twitter that the lawsuit was served to his wife. He added in the tweet on Sunday that Swalwell’s “team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!”
He added, “Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine. More to come!”
The lawsuit seeks to hold Brooks partially accountable for the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6.
.@EricSwalwell Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE).
— Mo Brooks (@MoBrooks) June 6, 2021
HORRIBLE Swalwell’s team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!
Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine.
More to come! pic.twitter.com/d7ikQFdM10
However, despite Brooks’ claim of unlawful entry, Swalwell’s attorney, Matthew Kaiser, told CNN, “No one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks’ house. That allegation is completely untrue. A process server lawfully served the papers on Mo Brooks’ wife, as the federal rules allow. This was after her initial efforts to avoid service.”
The attorney added:
“Mo Brooks has no one but himself to blame for the fact that it came to this. We asked him to waive service, we offered to meet him at a place of his choosing. Instead of working things out like a civilized person, he engaged in a juvenile game of Twitter trolling over the past few days and continued to evade service. He demanded that we serve him. We did just that. The important thing is the complaint has been served and Mo Brooks can now be held accountable for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.”
As CNN reports, “There’s an extensive set of rules that govern how and when a process server can give papers to a defendant, including allowing one to leave a copy of the papers with an adult at the residence.”
However, “If Brooks doesn’t believe he was properly served, he will have the opportunity to contest it in court,” as the outlet also reports.
Brooks previously called the lawsuit “a meritless ploy.” The Republican lawmaker spoke at the rally in Washington, D.C., prior to protesters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
.@ericswalwell lawsuit against Mo Brooks, @DonaldJTrumpJr & President Trump is a meritless ploy by a man who betrayed his country by bedding a Communist Chinese spy while serving on Intelligence Committee that hears & guards America’s most classified national security secrets.
— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) March 5, 2021
Swalwell filed the lawsuit in March against former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and Brooks. He alleged they “[incited] an attack against the Capitol that terrorized lawmakers and prevented us from certifying the votes for the American people.”
In May, Donald Trump sought to dismiss Swalwell’s lawsuit that claims his remarks on January 6 incited the riot. The former president claimed he had “absolute immunity” as president.
Additionally, Giuliani moved to dismiss the lawsuit. His attorneys allege, “There is simply no reasonable reading of the Giuliani Speech that can be construed as an incitement to violence.”