Mo Brooks accused of living in hiding as Democrat hires private detective to serve him with lawsuit over Capitol riot

A Democratic congressman suing a pro-Trump lawmaker who amplified the “stolen election” narrative that fuelled the Capitol riot has hit a snag: he is avoiding being served in the suit, according to attorneys.

US Rep Eric Swalwell has even hired a private investigator to track down Republican congressman Mo Brooks, Mr Swalwell’s attorneys said in recent court filings.

“Plaintiff had to engage the services of a private investigator to attempt to serve Brooks personally – a difficult feat under normal circumstances that has been complicated further” in the aftermath of the insurrection on 6 January, according to Mr Swalwell’s attorneys.

Attorneys for Mr Swalwell allege that Mr Brooks has “refused to waive service or even speak to undersigned counsel about the case” for weeks.

An investigator “has spent many hours over many days in April and May at locations in multiple jurisdictions attempting to locate and serve Brooks, to no avail,” attorneys said.

Attorneys for Mr Swalwell have asked the court to step in and tap the US Marshals or other court-designated officials to serve the complaint.

Mr Swalwell’s 65-page complaint filed in US District Court in Washington DC also targets Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Rudy Giuliani, whose speeches to a crowd before a mob swamped the US Capitol on 6 January are alleged as a months-long culmination of an election conspiracy narrative that incited the deadly riot.

In his speech during a “Save America” rally on 6 January, Mr Brooks – while wearing a hat that read “Fire Pelosi” – told the crowd that “today is the day that American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass” and asked, “Will you fight for America?”

He asked the crowd to consider Americas who sacrificed “sometimes their lives” to create the “greatest nation in world history”.

“Are you willing to do the same?” he said.

The day after the insurrection, the Alabama congressman told a local radio host that Americans can “submit” as “a lot of people did in the 1920s and 1930s in socialist Germany with Adolf Hitler” or “you can resist, often through violence.”

“None of those options are good,” he added.

After Mr Swalwell filed the lawsuit in March, Mr Brooks called it a “meritless ploy”.

The Independent has requested comment from Mr Brooks’s office.

It is the second major lawsuit from lawmakers in the wake of the assault on Congress as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

A separate lawsuit from US Rep Bennie Thompson and 10 other House Democrats has accused Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and members of the Proud Boys and far-right militia groups of enjoining a “concerted campaign to misinform their supporters and the public, encouraging and promoting intimidation and violence in furtherance of their common plan to promote” his re-election, despite his definitive loss.

The defendants have asked a US District Court judge to dismiss the suit.