Donald Trump’s claims of “absolute immunity” in a case involving injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan.6 insurrection were not accepted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
What Happened: The DoJ told a federal appeals court in Washington that it should allow the lawsuits and rejected the claims of immunity from the former president, reported Associated Press.
The DoJ did not take a position on the lawsuit’s claims that Trump’s words incited the attack on the Capitol but its lawyers told the court that a president would not be protected by “absolute immunity” if his words were an “incitement of imminent private violence,” according to the report.
The Department reportedly said that the president’s ability to speak to the nation’s citizens was a “traditional function” of “public communication and persuasion, not incitement of imminent private violence.”
Why It Matters: The DoJ lawyers noted that they are not taking a position on Trump’s potential criminal liability, noted the Press.
A Trump spokesperson reportedly said on Thursday that the former U.S. leader had “repeatedly called for peace, patriotism, and respect for our men and women of law enforcement” on Jan.6.
The spokesperson said the courts “should rule in favor of President Trump in short order and dismiss these frivolous lawsuits.”
Previously, Trump’s efforts to have a lawsuit, brought on by a Capitol Police officer, thrown out were defeated in January.
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