A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that Trump does not have immunity from January 6 civil lawsuits.
Earlier this year, Joe Biden’s Justice Department said in a court filing in the DC US Court of Appeals that Donald Trump can be sued by police officers over January 6.
The DOJ lawyers argued that Trump does not have immunity from civil lawsuits by police officers.
US District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee earlier this year rejected Trump’s immunity claim.
“Speaking to the public on matters of public concern is a traditional function of the presidency, and the outer perimeter of the president’s office includes a vast realm of such speech,” DOJ lawyers said in a brief in March. “But that traditional function is one of public communication. It does not include incitement of imminent private violence of the sort the district court found that plaintiffs’ complaints have plausibly alleged here.”
The DC Court of Appeals ruled Trump does not have presidential immunity and therefore can be sued.
Far-left Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan said in the written opinion that a president “does not spend every minute of every day exercising official responsibilities.”
CNN reported:
Former President Donald Trump isn’t immune from being held accountable in civil lawsuits related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot in a long-awaited, consequential decision from the federal appeals court in Washington, DC.
The decision, making new law around the presidency, will have significant implications for several cases against Trump in the Washington, DC, federal court related to the 2020 election. The decision arises out of lawsuits brought by Capitol Police officers and Democrats in Congress.
The opinion, written by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, states that not everything a president does while in office is protected from liability.
The president “does not spend every minute of every day exercising official responsibilities,” the opinion said. “And when he acts outside the functions of his office, he does not continue to enjoy immunity. … When he acts in an unofficial, private capacity, he is subject to civil suits like any private citizen.”
The decision to allow the January 6 lawsuits against Trump to proceed was unanimous among the three judges on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Greg Katsas concurred with the decision, and Judge Judith Rogers concurred in part.
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