Mo’s lawsuit, Mo’s problems.
That’s “Mo” as in Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who was finally served with a lawsuit over the weekend, more than four months after California Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) filed it in an attempt to hold him, and three others, responsible for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Brooks is listed as a co-defendant in the suit alongside former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. While the others acknowledged receipt of the legal complaint without much fuss, Swalwell’s attorneys had so much trouble reaching Brooks they had to hire a private investigator to serve the papers.
The private eye seems to have been successful, judging from a tweet Brooks sent Sunday afternoon in which he alleged the process server committed criminal trespass while delivering the documents to his wife.
Unbelievably, Brooks’ tweet on the matter seemed to have also inadvertently included sensitive information, including the congressman’s Gmail password.
Rather than take a screenshot of the Alabama law he believes the server violated, the Republican lawmaker tweeted a picture of his entire computer monitor ― complete with a sticky note containing a PIN and what appeared to be his Gmail password.
It took the congressman more than 20 hours to delete the tweet and replace it with one that didn’t contain his account information.
In the ultimate bit of irony, Brooks serves on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems.
Swalwell attorney Philip Andonian told HuffPost that Brooks was “validly served” Sunday afternoon and dismissed any claim of criminal trespass as being without merit, noting that “no one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks’ house.”
“In response to his juvenile Twitter trolling over the past few days, we offered to meet him somewhere to get him the papers,” Andonian said. “Instead of working things out like an adult, he continued to evade service and make a mockery of this incredibly serious case seeking to hold him accountable for the siege on the Capitol.”
“He demanded that we serve him, and we did just that,” he continued. “We look forward to litigating our claims against him in court.”
The case in question alleges Brooks and his co-defendants broke numerous laws on Jan. 6, including D.C.’s Anti-Terrorism Act, by inciting violence at Trump’s “Save America” rally, sparking a “violent mob [that] entered the Capitol, ransacked officers, and set out to kill members of Congress and other officials.”