In Capitol Siege Lawsuit, Judge Refuses to Side with Rep. Eric Swalwell Against Rep. Mo Brooks -- For

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

For Now

A federal judge has settled an intermediate skirmish in a civil lawsuit filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), and Rudy Giuliani in connection to the Jan. 6th siege on the U.S. Capitol.

Judge Amit P. Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia refused to enter a default judgement on Monday against Rep. Brooks after a request by Rep. Swalwell to do so.

Swalwell argued in court papers dated July 1 that Brooks failed to “timely respond” to his lawsuit which alleged that the various named defendants — including Brooks — committed a series of civil wrong by stoking and inciting the Jan. 6th attacks. Generally, as a matter of civil procedure law, failing to respond to a lawsuit will result in a default judgement against a named defendant. That’s what Swalwell wanted to occur viz. Brooks, as this paragraph tidily sums up — all while rebuking on Brooks for being somewhat difficult to find in general (citations omitted):

After some effort, Defendant Brooks was served with the summons and complaint on June 6, 2021 “at [his] dwelling or usual place of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion who resides there.” The affidavit of service was filed on June 8. Under the federal rules, Brooks was required to serve his response within 21 days of service of the complaint, in this case no later than June 27, 2021. To date, Brooks has not done so.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/in-capitol-siege-lawsuit-judge-refuses-to-side-with-rep-eric-swalwell-against-rep-mo-brooks-%e2%80%94-for-now/ar-AALNTeG

[MyOwnPeace]

1. Why should Brooks respond?

He's a RepubliQan - laws don't apply to them.....

[intheflow]

2. Headline makes it sound like the judge is MAGA.

But this just looks like a ruling on a technicality, not "refusing" or dismissing the action. And it certainly doesn't exonerate Brooks in any way. That's a good thing.

[lagomorph777]

3. Yeah, the suit is just getting started.

This will plague Brooks for quite a while. I'm OK with that.