A civil suit against former President Donald Trump brought by Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots can continue, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
A three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied Trump’s request to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of inciting violent mobs of his supporters.
However, the decision did not consider whether presidential immunity ultimately shields former presidents from liability, with the judge expressing “no view on the ultimate merits of the claims” against Trump.
Trump has challenged a lower court ruling that denied his effort to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that his words involved “matters of public concern” and fell within the scope of absolute presidential immunity.
US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that Trump’s words during the rally before storming the Capitol were likely “seditious words not protected by the First Amendment.”
That day, Trump called on protesters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voice heard,” his lawyer often noted.
Meanwhile, Democrats have emphasized the former president’s call to “fight like hell” during his speech on the White House Ellipse, hours before rioters stormed the US Capitol building.
Civil suits over the Jan. 6 Capitol riots against Trump, brought by Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers, can proceed, a federal appeals court ruled. AP
“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore,” Trump said.
The ruling came as the 77-year-old lawyer argued he was also immune from prosecution in a separate criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally plotting to overturn his election loss to President Biden.
The appeals court did not in its ruling that the former president’s defense team can still claim that his statements before the Capitol riots are protected under the First Amendment.
Smith also charged the former president with improperly storing national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, the only other federal charge he faces.
Trump has also been indicted in Georgia for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election there, and in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to hide “hush money” to two women before the 2016 election.
The DC ruling underscores the challenge Trump faces as he tries to persuade courts, and possibly juries, that the actions he took in the run-up to the riots were part of his official duties as president.
The judge presiding over the Capitol riot crime trial is expected to also dismiss the allegations.
An attorney for Trump, Jesse Binnall, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment on the ruling.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) was one of the Democrats who claimed that Trump incited violence at the Capitol “and then watched with approval as the building was invaded.”
A group of other House Democrats, as well as Capitol Police officers James Blasingame and Sidney Hemby, have also filed suit against the former president over his actions.
The officials argued that Trump acted “far beyond the ‘outer perimeter’ of his office when he conspired to use violence and intimidation to prevent members of Congress from carrying out their constitutional duty to count Electoral College votes and confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
The current appeal was decided by a unanimous three-court panel that included Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee to the panel who authored the concurring opinion himself.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
