Mo Brooks is taking his ball and going home—but he’s not against making a stop to sit in front of the January 6th committee to testify before he does. The longtime Alabama congressman and one-time MAGA loyalist, who holds the honor of being the first political candidate who had his Donald Trump endorsement rescinded, lost his recent bid for senator and is not taking it well. As Axios reports, Brooks announced his plan to retire from politics on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after being pretty sizably defeated in the Republican primary, telling Politico that “the bad guys won.”
Brooks also told Politico’s Olivia Beavers that he’s looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren and “being a normal person” because “normal people have some fun.” Come on, Mo—you could never be “normal.”
However, Brooks definitely has some axes to grind, particularly with the former president, who explained that he was revoking his endorsement of Brooks because the congressman had become too “woke.” Following their falling out, many people wondered if Brooks could become the “star witness” for the January 6th committee. Now, as CNN reports, Brooks says he’d be willing to testify under two conditions: first, that it be in public “so the public can see it—so they don’t get bits and pieces dribbled out.” Second, he’ll only speak about January 6, 2021. And third: he wants a full accounting of all the documents that he might be asked to speak to ahead of time.
In some ways, Brooks’ new willingness to testify may not matter, as the House select committee already announced that they would be subpoenaing the congressman, who spoke at the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally on the morning of January 6th—and that he did so wearing body armor (a sartorial choice that raises a few flags). Several of the insurrectionists who were at or inside the Capitol that day have also claimed that Brooks was one of the masterminds of the events of that day. So dictating the conditions of his testimony may be moot.
(Via Axios)