Trump can be sued for Jan 6 riots, US court says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
After a fiery speech near the White House, Donald Trump watched on TV as his supporters violently attacked the US Capitol in a bid to block certification of Mr Joe Biden’s election win.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – A US federal appeals court ruled on Dec 1 that former president Donald Trump can be sued over the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol
Trump could now face civil action over the violent clashes that saw a mob overrun law enforcement at the nerve centre of American democracy.
More than 1,200 people have been arrested over the melee.
Two Capitol police officers and several Democratic lawmakers sued Trump in 2021, alleging that he may have incited violence in his public comments to supporters before they descended on Capitol Hill.
Trump’s legal team had argued that, as president, he had immunity for his actions, including comments telling his supporters to “fight like hell” as Congress prepared to certify his election defeat.
“It is not that President Trump could not establish his entitlement to immunity... It is that he has not done so,” said the ruling by a three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals in Washington.
“When a first-term president opts to seek a second term, his campaign to win re-election is not an official presidential act.
“When a sitting president running for a second term... speaks at a campaign rally funded and organised by his re-election campaign committee, he is not carrying out the official duties of the presidency. He is acting as office-seeker, not office-holder.”
Trump “recognised that he engaged in his campaign to win re-election – including his post-election efforts to alter the declared results in his favour – in his personal capacity as presidential candidate, not in his official capacity as sitting president”, the ruling said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Election ‘stolen’
The 77-year-old Trump, the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination, charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the November 2020 election
Trump seemingly knew he lost the election – his advisers told him so and his legal challenges went nowhere – but continued to insist it was “stolen” by his Democratic rival.
He pressured election officials in Georgia to “find” the votes he needed to win and tried to strong-arm then Vice-President Mike Pence into not certifying the election results at the Jan 6, 2021, meeting of Congress.
After his fiery speech near the White House, Trump then watched on television for hours as his loyal backers violently attacked the Capitol in a bid to block congressional certification of Mr Biden’s victory.
Trump was impeached by the House for the Jan 6 insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate.
He has been indicted for racketeering in Georgia
He additionally faces federal charges for alleged mishandling of top-secret documents
