More lawsuits are barreling toward Trump over Jan. 6

Source: Yahoo! News/Politico

Sun, December 8, 2024 at 2:00 PM EST


Donald Trump isn’t off the hook for Jan. 6 just yet. Though the criminal cases against him are all but dead, Trump is likely to be fighting eight civil lawsuits — from members of Congress and injured police officers — deep into his second term. They may be the last form of legal redress Trump faces for his role in spurring the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Those lawsuits have been steadily advancing for years, largely overshadowed by the explosive Jan. 6 committee and grand jury investigations.

But now that the criminal cases have imploded, they’ve become a last stand of sorts for those seeking to hold Trump accountable for the chaos his supporters wrought that day. “These cases, unlike the criminal case, will not be affected by the election,” said Joseph Sellers, a lawyer representing 10 current and former Democratic House members suing Trump and members of two far-right groups involved in the riot, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. “Our clients suffered real injuries that entitle them to relief, but also I think are seeking some measure of accountability given President Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 events and the events leading up to it.”

Trump’s election effectively scuttled special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump, but a unanimous Supreme Court ruling from more than two decades ago says civil litigation can proceed against a sitting president. The high court ruled that those cases don’t need to end because of the potential to distract the chief executive. And a complicated appeals court ruling in 2023 allowed the Jan. 6 lawsuits to move forward despite Trump’s claims of presidential immunity — a decision that helped form the basis of the Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling on Trump’s immunity from criminal proceedings.

Trump is still waiting for a ruling on whether he’s immune from the lawsuits because he was acting as president as he riled up the crowd at the ellipse that day, as he’s argued. If he’s held liable for inciting the violence at the Capitol, Trump could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars. “This is something that should be brought to trial during the second administration of President Trump,” Sellers added. “We’re not suggesting that the president be treated like any other defendant, but that should not stop the cases from proceeding to trial.”

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-may-dodged-criminal-cases-190000644.html