Former President Donald Trump isn’t currently entitled to absolute immunity against civil lawsuits seeking to hold him responsible for the violence at the US Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Friday rejected Trump’s argument that because he was president at the time, he couldn’t be sued over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 attack or his comments to a rally of his supporters that morning. The majority said that Trump could try to claim immunity again later in the case, but not at this early stage.
The ruling is a significant setback for Trump as he fights criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election results. His legal defense team is arguing that he is also entitled to executive immunity against the prosecution, teeing up a similar fight over whether the post-election activities in the indictment fell under the umbrella of his official duties as president.
