Former US President Donald Trump and his representative Rudy Giuliani have been accused of conspiring with the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to incite the January 6 uprising. This is stated in a civil suit filed on Tuesday, February 16, in federal court by Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, reports CNN.
This lawsuit is the first civil lawsuit filed against the former head of the White House in connection with the attack on the Capitol. It came just days after the Senate acquitted Trump in the impeachment process.
Thompson points to Trump’s words and tweets in the months leading up to the uprising, accusing the 45th president and Giuliani of mobilizing and preparing their supporters to attack to prevent Congress from approving the election results. The lawsuit cites a rarely used federal law passed after the country’s civil war that was designed to tackle violence from the far-right Ku Klux Klan (KKK) movement. It allows civil suits to be brought against people who use “force, intimidation or threats” to prevent someone from performing their official duties.
On February 13, 57 senators voted for impeachment of Trump, 43 voted against. 67 votes out of 100 were required to issue an indictment. Thus, the initiative did not receive the required number of votes, and the Senate acquitted the former president.
The second impeachment trial against Trump began in the Senate on February 9. On January 14, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the 45th president over the riots in Washington. This is the first time the US has attempted to remove a former president from office after the end of his term.