Rep. Bennie Thompson sues Donald Trump

A Democratic congressman from Mississippi, Bennie Thompson has sued former US President Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January.

Thompson also accused Trump of conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent the Senate from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

The lawsuit Rep. Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is part of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress.

Donald Trump: legal nightmare begins

It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, reports Mail Online.

READ ALSO  Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson sends message to Trump: Where are You?

The case also names as defendants the Republican former president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, extremist organizations that had members charged by the Justice Department with taking part in the siege.

Lawyers for Trump have denied that he incited the riot.

A Trump adviser didn’t immediately comment about the lawsuit on Tuesday, and a lawyer for Giuliani did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The suit, filed in federal court in Washington under a Reconstruction-era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, comes three days after Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial that centered on allegations that he incited the riot, in which five people died.

READ ALSO  Trump invited to testify at impeachment trial next week

The 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.