Former President Donald Trump can be sued by two U.S. Capitol Police officers seeking to hold him accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the Department of Justice determined in a court filing Thursday.
Attorneys for the DOJ’s civil division told a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., that it should reject Trump’s “categorical argument” that the U.S. president “is always immune from any civil suits” based on his public remarks, “even if that speech also constitutes incitement to imminent private violence.”
“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,” the DOJ attorneys wrote. “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.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member