Washington, D.C. The Justice Department announced on Thursday in an ongoing federal court dispute testing the boundaries of executive power that injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers can file a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump for the uprising on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.
Although a president has a lot of legal leeway when it comes to speaking to the public about pressing issues, according to the department, “no aspect of a President’s official responsibilities involves the inciting of impending private violence. Such behavior clearly violates the President’s statutory and constitutional obligations by definition.
The Justice Department’s Civil Division attorneys filed the brief, which is unrelated to a separate criminal inquiry by a department special counsel into whether Trump can be charged criminally for attempting to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election before the Capitol incident. In fact, the attorneys state that they are not endorsing any theory of possible criminal responsibility for Trump or anybody else.
Last year, a federal judge in Washington rejected Trump’s attempts to have the conspiracy lawsuits brought by legislators and two Capitol police officers dismissed. The judge’s decision stated that the former president’s statements “plausibly” caused the incident on January 6, 2021. Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court stated in his decision.
The lawsuits claimed that Trump and others made “false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendant’s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.” They were initially filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, and later joined by other House Democrats.
Left: Donald Trump, a former US president, speaks at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, USA, on November 7, 2022, in support of Republican candidates. picture taken by Gaelen Morse/REUTERS
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