Justice Dept: Former President Trump can be sued by police for Jan. 6 actions
Video above: Trump election probe grand jury believes some witnesses lied
Former President Donald Trump can be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in an ongoing federal court case testing the limits of executive power.
The department wrote that although a president enjoys broad legal latitude to communicate to the public on matters of concern, 맥스카지노no part of a President맥스카지노s official responsibilities includes the incitement of imminent private violence. By definition, such conduct plainly falls outside the President맥스카지노s constitutional and statutory duties.맥스카지노
The brief was filed by lawyers in the Justice Department's Civil Division and has no bearing on a separate criminal investigation by a department special counsel into whether Trump can be criminally charged over efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election ahead of the Capitol riot. In fact, the lawyers note that they are not taking a position with respect to potential criminal liability for Trump or anyone else.
A federal judge in Washington last year rejected efforts by Trump to toss out the conspiracy lawsuits filed by lawmakers and two Capitol police officers, saying in his ruling that the former president맥스카지노s words 맥스카지노plausibly맥스카지노 led to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said in his ruling that Trump맥스카지노s words during a rally before the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol were likely 맥스카지노words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment.맥스카지노
The lawsuits, filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, and later joined by other House Democrats, argued that Trump and others made 맥스카지노false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendant맥스카지노s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.