After a Sunday report from Rolling Stone, lawmakers and journalists accused Brooks of involvement in planning the Jan. 6 riot. He denied the accusal that his staff members helped plan the event. He stressed he would support them if they exercised their First Amendment rights to organize a legal protest.
"Quite frankly, I'd be proud of them if they did help organize a First Amendment rally to protest voter fraud and election theft," Brooks told AL.com.
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"I don't know if my staff did," Brooks told CNN's Melanie Zanona on Monday. "But if they did, I'd be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the Ellipse to protest voter fraud and election theft."
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Brooks formerly dismissed accusations that he was involved in preparing the Jan. 6 siege, insisting that he did not know of any staff members who may have helped plan the rally. The Alabama Republican also disputed that he and Rep. Madison Cawthorn spoke with then-President Donald Trump at the "Stop the Steal" demonstration at the Ellipse outside the White House.
"There was a meeting at the White House about voter fraud and election theft activity," Brooks said. "But I have no recollection of any kind of organizational activity regarding the speeches on Jan. 6."
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The Alabama Republican "had no intentions of going to that rally until Jan. 5, when the White House asked me to speak," Brooks told the Birmingham News, adding that Jan. 5 was the "beginning of his involvement."
The Republican representative is being sued by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who accused Brooks and former President Trump of provoking the deadly riot that broke out at the Capitol.
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Brooks has fought the lawsuit, trying to avoid being served and seeking to dismiss himself from the suit, because speaking at the rally was part of his job as a congressman.
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In July, the Department of Justice lawyers refused to support his claim that speaking at the rally was part of his job.
"The record indicates that Brooks’s appearance at the January 6 rally was campaign activity, and it is no part of the business of the United States to pick sides among candidates in federal elections," the court filing from the DOJ read.
Brooks has regularly promoted claims about mass voter fraud. In September, Brooks repeatedly claimed the 2020 election was stolen despite officials' assurances that votes were secure.
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