In this article, you will get detail regarding Donald Trump can be sued for Jan. 6 riot harm, DOJ says
WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump may be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over January. 6, 2021, a riot at the US Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in a federal court case testing Trump’s legal vulnerability and the limits of executive power.
While the president enjoys broad statutory freedom to communicate with the public about matters of concern, the department wrote that “no part of the president’s official responsibilities includes inciting immediate private violence. By definition, such behavior clearly falls outside the constitutional and statutory duties of the president.”
The filing was filed by attorneys for the Justice Department’s Civil Division and has no bearing on the department’s special counsel’s separate criminal investigation into whether Trump could be criminally charged over efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory ahead of the Capitol. a mess. In fact, the lawyers note that they are not taking a position on potential criminal liability for Trump or anyone else.
Attorneys for the Justice Department also wrote that they do not view the lower court judge’s finding that those suing Trump “arguably” argued that his speech had caused a riot. Still, the department wrote that the appeals court should reject Trump’s claim of absolute immunity.
An email seeking comment was sent to Trump’s lawyer on Thursday. Trump’s lawyers argued that he was acting within his official rights and had no intention of inciting violence when he called on thousands of supporters to “march on the Capitol” and “fight like hell” before the riots broke out.
The case is among the many legal problems facing Trump as he prepares another bid for the White House in 2024.
A prosecutor in Georgia is investigating whether Trump and his allies broke the law while trying to overturn his election loss in that state. Trump is also under federal criminal investigation over top-secret documents found at his Florida estate.
In a separate investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election results, special counsel Jack Smith called former Vice President Mike Pence, who said he would fight the subpoena.
In addition to investigating Trump, special counsel Jack Smith called former Vice President Mike Pence about his actions and what he was able to witness regarding the Capitol mess. Pence says he will fight the subpoena.
Trump is appealing the decision by a federal judge in Washington, who last year rejected the former president’s efforts to dismiss civil conspiracy lawsuits brought by lawmakers and two Capitol police officers. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Trump’s words during the rally before the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol were likely “words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment.”
Lawsuits filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Reps. James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, and later joined by other House Democrats, allege that Trump and others made “false and inflammatory allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to express the defendant’s calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the US Capitol.”
The lawsuits invoke a federal civil rights law enacted to counter intimidation of officials by the Ku Klux Klan. They detail how Trump and others spread baseless claims of election fraud, both before and after the 2020 presidential election was declared, and charge that they helped enrage thousands of rioters before storming the Capitol.
The lawsuits seek damages for physical and emotional injuries the plaintiffs suffered during the riot.
In its submission, the Ministry of Justice warned that “the court must take care not to adopt rules that would unreasonably diminish legitimate presidential communication” or burden the president with meaningless lawsuits.
“In performing their traditional communications functions, presidents routinely address controversial issues that are the subject of passionate feelings,” the department wrote. “Presidents can sometimes use strong rhetoric. And some who hear that rhetoric may overreact or even respond with violence.”
Story by Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer
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