Former President Donald Trump asserted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is creating an “unprecedented” situation in arguing that he’s not immune to Jan. 6-connected lawsuits, according to a court filing submitted in a federal court on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the DOJ wrote that the former president cannot be immune to lawsuits if it was determined that he incited violence on Jan. 6. However, Trump’s team assailed (pdf) those claims and called the DOJ’s arguments an “unprecedented specific carve out” to absolute immunity that presidents should enjoy.
Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, “falls well within the broad scope of absolute immunity suggested by DOJ” and that the “DOJ’s argument … defeats the purpose of having absolute immunity,” his lawyers wrote. “Absolute immunity aims to prevent the President from being subjected to the process of civil litigation. It recognizes that the President is a prominent national figure and constant target for litigation.”
“The very concept of Presidential immunity assumes some level of conduct that is wrongful yet beyond the reach of civil liability,” the filing said. “Collapsing the standard for Presidential immunity into the standard for protected First Amendment activity effectively ignores these purposes; it throws open the doors for civil claims against a President and creates a stricter standard for a President than for ordinary federal officials, who have successfully claimed qualified immunity on far more egregious facts.”
The federal District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is considering whether Trump could be held liable ahead of the events that occurred on Jan. 6. Several Democrat lawmakers have filed a lawsuit against the former president, as have U.S. Capitol Police officers.
On March 2, the DOJ wrote that Trump’s attorneys have come up with a “single, categorical argument” that the president is “always immune from any civil suits based on his ‘speech on matters of public concern’ … even if that speech also constitutes incitement to imminent private violence.”
That filing did not back any claims that were made by the lawmakers and Capitol Police officers. It merely noted that DOJ lawyers are “plausibly” alleging that Trump’s statements on Jan. 6 may have triggered the Capitol breach.
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