Nadler joins lawsuit vs. Trump & Rudy over riot

Rep. Jerrold Nadler and nine other House Democrats have joined a federal lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani of inciting the violent Capitol storming.

The powerful congressman says he had to abandon his office out of fear and prepared a “go bag” of essentials as the pro-Trump mob hunted down perceived enemies on Jan. 6.

“Those responsible for placing me and my colleagues in danger must face accountability for their criminality,” Nadler (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn) said in court papers filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit was originally filed by the NAACP and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in February, accusing Trump and Giuliani of violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by seeking to stop President Biden’s victory.

The Reconstruction-era act was passed in response to KKK violence, and prohibits violence or intimidation meant to prevent Congress or other federal officials from carrying out their constitutional duties.

The lawsuit also accuses the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, two extremist groups, of conspiring with the former president and his lawyer.

“There is no question that the mob’s unlawful actions ... interfered with my ability to exercise my constitutional responsibility of certifying the 2020 presidential election,” said Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Trump and Giuliani have both denied inciting or supporting the violence that followed Trump’s White House rally Jan. 6.

Hundreds of accused rioters from across the country have since been charged in federal and state courts, with many of them claiming they were acting at Trump’s direction.

Joining in the lawsuit were Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).