Trump’s Lawyer Says His Speech at Jan. 6 Rally Is Protected by Immunity, Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuits Blaming Him for Capitol Riot

Trump’s Lawyer Says His Speech at Jan. 6 Rally Is Protected by Immunity, Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuits Blaming Him for Capitol Riot

Trump’s lawyer claims that his speech at a rally on January 6 is shielded by immunity and asks a judge to dismiss cases accusing him of inciting the Capitol disturbance.

A federal court questioned a lawyer for Donald Trump on Monday about his assertion that a sitting president has total immunity for practically everything he says, a major component of Trump’s request to dismiss multiple civil cases accusing him of inciting the deadly Capitol brawl.

“I cannot come up with an example of something the president says as president” that would not be protected from lawsuits, attorney Jesse Binnall said Judge Amit Mehta during a hearing in federal court in Washington.

The complaints were brought by Democratic lawmakers and police officers who were present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building and temporarily prevented Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

Two police officers from the United States Capitol are claiming damages for physical and mental injuries sustained during the violence. Donald Trump Jr., ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. are all named as defendants in Rep. Eric Swalwell’s lawsuit. Eleven more House Democrats have sued Trump, Giuliani, and the right-wing organization’s Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.

Both of the House Democrats’ charges invoke the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was intended to guard against political violence and intimidation. All three sets of lawsuits accuse Trump of instigating the invasion.

The claims, however, “never should have been brought in the first place,” Binnall argued in a teleconferenced oral argument Monday afternoon. He claimed the cases are “full of propaganda” and meant to “score points” against Democrats’ political opponents.

According to Binnall, Trump’s address at a rally outside the White House on the day of the violence fits clearly within the scope of presidential immunity. Trump instructed his followers to march to the Capitol to pressure Republican lawmakers to reject the 2020 election results after spending weeks spreading the phony conspiracy theory that his loss to Biden was the result of massive fraud.

Mehta, who was appointed to the D.C. district court by then-President Barack Obama in 2014, sounded doubtful of Binnall’s expansive interpretation of presidential speech immunity.

“You want me to completely disregard anything he said?” Mehta enquired with Binnall about the content of Trump’s January 6 address. Binnall agreed.

Binnall said, “For example, I can’t think of an example,” when the judge asked if there was anything a president might say or do that would make him liable.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers said that Mehta should not dismiss their cases since the legal filings put out a convincing case that Trump stirred up his supporters before dispatching them to the Capitol, where many of them then assaulted the building.

Binnall is also representing Trump in a case before the Supreme Court that seeks to prevent the release of a batch of White House records to a House select committee looking into Trump’s role in the Capitol disturbance.

According to reports, the committee is looking at a variety of alleged criminal activity, including probable criminal activity by Trump.

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