A sitting U.S. Congressman has filed a civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, alleging they and others conspired to incite the deadly January 6 insurrection.
In his lawsuit Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) also names two white nationalist/white supremacist or extremist groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, accusing all parties of conspiring to violate the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, as ABC News reports.
“The insurrection was the result of a carefully orchestrated plan by Trump, Giuliani and extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, all of whom shared a common goal of employing intimidation, harassment and threats to stop the certification of the Electoral College, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi.”
On Monday The Washington Post reported Donald Trump “could be sued for damages under the federal Ku Klux Klan Act,” and called the statute “a ready-made civil remedy for the president’s subverting the election and inciting the Capitol riot.”
“Members of Congress,” the Post reports, “their staffs and even Capitol police officers, among others, may have claims — they can sue for emotional or mental distress or any other injury.”
“For what Trump attempted, one provision of the Ku Klux Klan Act seems made to order,” the Post explains. “Section 1985(1) of Title 42 authorizes damages against anyone — including Trump, Giuliani and others — who conspires to ‘prevent by force, intimidation or threat any person from accepting any office [or] trust … under the United States, or discharging any duties therefor …’ Any person targeted for assault or intimidation arising from that conspiracy may sue.”
The New York Times adds the lawsuit was filed by the NAACP, and “contends” that Trump and Giuliani violated the “1871 statute that includes protections against violent conspiracies that interfered with Congress’s constitutional duties.”
The lawsuit quotes Senator Mitch McConnell from his speech Saturday:
“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one.”
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