Mo Brooks goes ballistic on Donald Trump after losing his endorsement

Hours after Donald Trump withdrew his endorsement from Rep. Mo Brooks’ Senate campaign in Alabama, Brooks—who spoke (while wearing body armor) at the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol and voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s victory—issued a statement that should have the Jan. 6 select committee and Attorney General Merrick Garland sitting up and taking notice.

Trump blamed Brooks’ statements about the need to move on from the 2020 elections for his decision to rescind the endorsement, saying Brooks “went ‘woke.’” But Brooks first said that last August, and the decision also comes as Brooks is trailing in Alabama Senate primary polls. So it may be a case of Trump trying to avoid the stench of loser as much as Trump being butthurt that Brooks no longer thinks the last election is the biggest thing in U.S. politics today. But he’s turning his back on a guy who may have things to say that people want to hear.

In his response statement, Brooks first blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for having “manipulated” Trump. Brooks called himself “the only candidate who fought voter fraud and election theft when it counted, between Nov. 3 and Jan. 6.”

Brooks then went on to say, “I repeat what has prompted President Trump’s ire. The only legal way America can prevent 2020’s election debacle is for patriotic Americans to focus on and win the 2022 and 2024 elections so that we have the power to enact laws that give us honest and accurate elections.”

Brooks isn’t saying that he thinks President Joe Biden won the 2020 elections fair and square. He says there was voter fraud and election theft (this is a lie) and that he wants to change elections law to prevent it from happening again. But there’s an interesting word in there. “Legal.”

And that word is an important lead-in to the final paragraph of Brooks’ statement: “President Trump asked me to rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, immediately put President Trump back in the White House, and hold a new special election for the presidency. As a lawyer, I’ve repeatedly advised President Trump that Jan. 6 was the final election contest verdict and neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S. Code permit what President Trump asks. Period.”

Mo Brooks was totally on board with trying to overturn the election on Jan. 6. But Trump’s demands that he participate in a coup have gone way past Jan. 6, his statement makes clear. That’s something that federal law enforcement and the select committee alike should be asking Brooks about, in addition to questions about his role in spreading lies about the 2020 election and inciting and planning Jan. 6.

There’s a lot going on in the world, but a sitting member of Congress alleging that a former president has tried to get him to join a coup—not just before Jan. 6 but also since President Biden’s inauguration—is worth some attention.