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Trump can be sued by police over Jan. 6, Justice Department says

DOJ attorneys said in a court filing in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that Trump does not have absolute immunity from civil lawsuits filed by police officers and members of Congress.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump listens as he is introduced to speak at the South Carolina Statehouse, Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. Trumps lawyers in Georgia are criticizing the Fulton County investigation into potential illegal election meddling after the foreperson of the special grand jury seated to help the probe went public this week. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) (Alex Brandon, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice said Thursday that former President Donald Trump can be sued by police officers over the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Attorneys for the Justice Department’s civil division made it clear in a court filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that Trump does not have absolute immunity from multiple civil lawsuits, filed by police officers and members of Congress, which seek to hold him liable for damages stemming from the Jan. 6 riot.

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“Speaking to the public on matters of public concern is a traditional function of the presidency, and the outer perimeter of the president’s office includes a vast realm of such speech,” the brief said. “But that traditional function is one of public communication. It does not include incitement of imminent private violence of the sort the district court found that plaintiffs’ complaints have plausibly alleged here.”

Read the full report from NBC News.


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