After months of inaction, three civil lawsuits seeking to hold former President Donald Trump and some of his key advisers accountable for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol are moving ahead, according to CNN.
Two of the lawsuits were filed by Democrat lawmakers, while the other was brought by Capitol Police officers.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta has scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 10, 2022, on whether the cases should be dismissed.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., filed one of the complaints, claiming Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., each made speeches on Jan. 6 inciting the riot and inflicting emotional distress on members of Congress.
CNN noted Brooks has said he cannot be liable because he was acting within the scope of his political office.
In another suit, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and other lawmakers, claim Trump and Giuliani conspired with groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to incite the riot. Thompson has since withdrawn from the suit as a result of being named to the House Select Committee probing the riot.
In the third suit, two Capitol Police officers are claiming Trump directed his followers to assault them, according to CNN.
The three suits are separate from the House committee's probe of the riot.
Meanwhile, a conservative group is calling on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to boot Jan. 6 Select Committee Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., from the House Republican Conference.
"As duly elected representatives, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger are free to serve in the House, but they should no longer do so with the privileges granted to members of the House Republican Conference," the Conservative Action Project wrote in a letter to McCarthy on Wednesday. "They should no longer be given access to the benefits of a conference they actively seek to undermine.
"We ask that the GOP conference meet immediately to vote on stripping Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger from their membership in the GOP conference."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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