NAACP sues Trump, Giuliani over riot
WASHINGTON — The NAACP on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, claiming that they violated a 19th-century statute when they tried to prevent the certification of the election on Jan. 6.
The civil rights organization brought the suit on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Other Democrats in Congress — including Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey — are expected to join as plaintiffs in the coming weeks, according to the NAACP.
The lawsuit contends that Trump and Giuliani violated the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 statute that includes protections against violent conspiracies that interfered with Congress’s constitutional duties; the suit also names the Proud Boys, the farright nationalist group, and the Oath Keepers militia group. The legal action accuses Trump, Giuliani and the two groups of conspiring to incite a violent riot at the Capitol, with the goal of preventing Congress from certifying the election.
The suit is the latest legal problem for Trump: New York prosecutors are investigating his financial dealings; New York’s attorney general is pursuing a civil investigation into whether Trump’s company misstated assets to get bank loans and tax benefits; and a Georgia district attorney is examining his election interference effort there.
Jason Miller, an adviser to Trump, noted in response to the lawsuit that the Senate had acquitted the former president of the article of impeachment on inciting an insurrection. The Senate voted 57-43, falling short of the twothirds majority required to convict.
“President Trump did not plan, produce or organize the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse. President Trump did not incite or conspire to incite any violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday. He added that Giuliani “is not currently representing President Trump in any legal matters.”
Thompson is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The suit does not include a specific financial amount.
Thompson, 72, claims he was put at an increased health risk by later being required to shelter in place in a cramped area that did not allow for social distancing. The lawsuit notes that Thompson shared confined space with two members of Congress who tested positive for the coronavirus shortly after the attack at the Capitol.
In an interview Monday, Thompson said he would not have brought the suit against Trump if the Senate had voted to convict him in last week’s impeachment trial.
“I feared for my life,” Thompson said. “Not a day passes that I don’t think about this incident. I was committed to seeing justice brought to this situation.”
Both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have recently raised the prospect of Trump being held accountable in the courts for the riot. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial but then appeared to encourage people to take their fight to the courts.
“He didn’t get away with anything, yet,” McConnell said at the trial’s conclusion, noting: “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation.”
Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said the decision to seek compensatory and punitive damages was rooted in a history of tools that have worked to fight back against white supremacy.
While much of the focus of the impeachment trial rested on how the violent mob was threatening former Vice President Mike Pence as well as congressional leaders like the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, NAACP officials said the attack was deeply rooted in racial injustice.
“Underlying this insurrection were the actions of folks who were challenging the voices of people of color,” said Janette McCarthy Wallace, interim general counsel of the NAACP. “If you look at whose votes were being challenged, these came from largely urban areas. The votes of people of color were being challenged.”