Tuesday, 6 April 2021

NAACP's Trump insurrection lawsuit expected to add 10 new plaintiffs, including members of Congress, per reports

The NAACP's lawsuit against Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and extremist groups, is about to expand.
According to The Daily Beast, 10 new plaintiffs and additional information will be added Wednesday.
The NAACP originally brought the suit on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson in February following the Jan. 6 riot.
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A federal lawsuit targeting former President Donald Trump, his lawyer, and far-right extremists in the aftermath of the July 6 Capital attack is reportedly scoring some new, heavyweight plaintiffs.

The NAACP's suit alleging Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers conspired to incite a riot in an effort to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election is expected to add 10 new plaintiffs, including other members of Congress, on Wednesday, according to The New York Times and The Daily Beast.

Lawyers for the civil rights organization brought the suit on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi in February and alleged the former president and his lawyer, in conjunction with far-right extremist groups, violated the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by depriving Americans of their civil rights and disrupting the electoral vote count on January 6.

In addition to new plaintiffs, the amended complaint will also reportedly feature additional information regarding the deadly riot in Washington DC, according to The Beast.

During the violent siege, Thompson was among lawmakers who were forced to don gas masks and lie on the floor in an effort to avoid rioters, according to the suit. The Mississippi rep. was eventually led out of the Capitol to the Longworth House Office Building, where he sheltered in place with more than 200 other lawmakers, staffers, and family members.

Trump has chosen Jesse Binnall, a Republican lawyer who filed a "Stop the Seal" lawsuit in Nevada, which attempted and failed to overturn the 2020 election results, to represent him in the suit, The Beast reported.

The expanded lawsuit comes as Trump faces a barrage of other legal troubles since leaving office in January.

Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, announced in February that they were officially launching a criminal investigation into whether Trump committed election interference by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" additional votes in the state's presidential contest. In New York, prosecutors are investigating his financial dealings while the state's attorney general is civilly investigating whether Trump's organization illegally inflated the value of its assets to score tax breaks.

Meanwhile, the former president also faces a lawsuit from two longtime Capitol police officers, who allege Trump "inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted" the mob that caused both men injuries on January 6. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California has also filed a suit against Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani, and Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama for allegedly inciting the insurrection.

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