WASHINGTON, In a significant development, a US appeals court on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump’s claim of immunity, ruling that he must face civil lawsuits concerning his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel determined that Trump was acting “in his personal capacity as a presidential candidate” when he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol on the day of the riot. The decision clarifies that US presidents are immune from civil lawsuits only for official actions.
This ruling paves the way for Trump to confront lawsuits from US Capitol police officers and Democratic lawmakers seeking accountability for the violence instigated by his supporters in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
The case is just one among several civil and criminal challenges faced by the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, positioning himself against Democratic President Joe Biden in the upcoming election.
While the unanimous decision specifically addressed whether Trump could be sued, it refrained from delving into the merits of the cases themselves. Trump had argued that his speech, encouraging his followers to “fight like hell” against the election certification, was related to a “matter of public concern” and fell within his official responsibilities.
A spokesperson for Trump labeled the ruling as “limited, narrow, and procedural,” asserting that Trump was “acting on behalf of the American people” on the day of the Capitol attack.
It’s noteworthy that Trump has employed a similar immunity argument in a federal criminal case accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results. In that case, a judge is yet to rule on the immunity issue.
While the recent ruling explicitly avoided addressing Trump’s potential criminal immunity, both cases revolve around Trump’s actions before and during the Capitol riot.
By Reuters
