WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� is not immune from that he incited a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, a federal judge in one of the last unresolved legal cases stemming from the riot.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Tuesday that Trump’s remarks at his 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� rally, held on the Ellipse near the White House shortly before the siege began, 鈥減lausibly鈥� were inciting words that are not protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.
The Republican president is not shielded from liability for much of his Jan. 6 conduct, including that speech and many of his social media posts that day, according to the judge. But Mehta said Trump cannot be held liable for his official acts that day, including his Rose Garden remarks during the riot and his interactions with Justice Department officials.
鈥淧resident Trump has not shown that the Speech reasonably can be understood as falling within the outer perimeter of his Presidential duties,鈥� Mehta wrote. 鈥淭he content of the Ellipse Speech confirms that it is not covered by official-acts immunity.”
Not the first court ruling on presidential immunity
The decision is not the court’s first ruling that Trump can be held liable for the violence at the Capitol and it is unlikely to be the last given the near-certainty of an appeal. But the 79-page ruling sets the stage for a possible civil trial in the same courthouse where Trump was charged with crimes for his Jan. 6 conduct, before his 2024 election .
Trump鈥檚 legal team said in a statement that Trump was carrying out his official duties and that presidents have 鈥渁bsolute immunity from civil and criminal claims for acts in their singular role.鈥�
Mehta previously refused to dismiss the claims against Trump in a February 2022 ruling that Trump was not entitled to presidential immunity from the claims brought by Democratic members of Congress and law enforcement officers who guarded the Capitol on Jan. 6. In that decision, Mehta also concluded that Trump鈥檚 words during his rally speech plausibly amounted to incitement and were not protected by the First Amendment.
The case returned to Mehta after an appeals court ruling upheld his 2022 decision. He said Tuesday’s ruling on immunity falls under a more “rigorous” legal standard at this later stage in the litigation.
Mehta, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, said his latest decision is not a 鈥渇inal pronouncement on immunity for any particular act.鈥�
鈥淧resident Trump remains free to reassert official-acts immunity as a defense at trial. But the burden will remain his and will be subject to a higher standard of proof,鈥� the judge wrote.
Official capacity vs. office-seeker
Trump spoke to a crowd of his supporters at the rally before the mob鈥檚 attack disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying Democrat Joe Biden鈥檚 2020 electoral victory over Trump. Trump closed out his speech by saying, 鈥淲e fight. We fight like hell and if you don鈥檛 fight like hell, you鈥檙e not going to have a country anymore.鈥�
that Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 meets the threshold for presidential immunity.
contended that Trump cannot prove he was acting entirely in his official capacity rather than as an office-seeking private individual. They also said the Supreme Court has held that office-seeking conduct falls outside the scope of presidential immunity.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who at that time led the House Homeland Security Committee, sued Trump, Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers extremist groups over the Jan. 6 riot. Other Democratic members of Congress later joined the litigation, which was consolidated with the officers’ claims.
鈥榁ictory for the rule of law鈥�
The civil claims survived Trump鈥檚 sweeping act of clemency on the first day of his second term, when he pardoned, commuted prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of all 1,500-plus criminal cases stemming from the Capitol siege. More than 100 police officers were injured while defending the Capitol from rioters.
The plaintiffs’ legal team includes attorneys from the Lawyers鈥� Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Damon Hewitt, the group’s president and executive director, praised the ruling as a 鈥渕onumental victory for the rule of law, affirming that no one, including the president of the United States, is above it.鈥�
鈥淭he court rightly recognizes that President Trump鈥檚 actions leading to the January 6 insurrection fell outside the scope of presidential duties,” Hewitt said in a statement. 鈥淭his ruling is an important step toward accountability for the violent attack on the Capitol and our democracy.鈥�
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