(CNN) The Justice Department on Thursday urged an appeals court to reject several claims of presidential immunity filed by former President Donald Trump in civil litigation surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection in the US Capitol.
The department told the appeals court — which is considering several private lawsuits filed against Trump over his conduct before the Capitol attack — that a president is not completely immune from speaking out about on a matter of public concern. if the speech is found to incite violence.
“No part of the president’s official responsibility includes inciting imminent private violence,” the Justice Department said in a friend-of-a-court brief that the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals requested in government to file.
Thursday’s brief marked the first time the department directly faced the question of Trump’s civil immunity for his conduct related to Jan. 6. The lawsuits were brought by Democratic members of the House and Capitol Police officials.
A 1982 ruling from the US Supreme Court established that presidents are completely immune from civil damages arising from their official acts as president — but only if the presidential speech amounts to an official action is still a dark question for the courts.
The new filing underscores how difficult the legal disputes surrounding presidential immunity are, with the Justice Department telling the D.C. Circuit that in “all contexts, questions of the presidency’s -president should be approached with the utmost sensitivity to the ever-changing demands of the Presidency.”
The Justice Department warned the court against using the civil lawsuits on January 6 as a vehicle to draw strong lines on whether the president could face accountability for speech related to the issues. in elections or politics. Instead, the department asked the D.C. Circuit to issue a “narrow” ruling, focusing only on what Trump’s lawyers said should be immune from civil lawsuits for the president’s speech even though that speech incites violence.
The January 6 civil lawsuits are currently at a stage where courts are weighing questions about the legal merits of the claims against Trump, and those courts have yet to consider the factual ones. merits of the allegations against the former president. A district court judge previously denied a motion by Trump to dismiss the case, noting that the former president is not completely immune from the civil suit on January 6.
The DC Circuit is now considering a request by Trump to overturn that decision. After hearing arguments on the matter last year, the appeals court invited the Justice Department to weigh in.
“The United States here expressed disregard for the district court’s conclusion that the plaintiffs likely alleged that President Trump’s January 6 speech prompted the next attack on the Capitol,” said the DOJ in its brief. “But because actual incitement is not protected by absolute immunity even when it occurs in the context of a speech on matters of public concern, this Court must reject the categorical argument pressed by President Trump below. and reversed on appeal.”
In response to the filing, a Trump spokesperson said, “The DC Courts should rule in favor of President Trump in short order and dismiss these frivolous lawsuits.”
Whether Trump could face some civil lawsuits for his conduct while in the White House is difficult terrain for the Department of Justice to navigate.
The Justice Department, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, came under fire from the left when it maintained the department’s Trump-era position that Trump could not be personally sued for allegedly defaming a woman who had accused him of sex. attack. The courts are still considering the question, but if the DOJ sided with it, that would force the dismissal of the case, brought by E. Jean Carroll.
In the January 6 civil lawsuits, the department seeks to establish a proper stance on why Trump may be liable in civil lawsuits for his conduct related to January 6.
It asked the D.C. Circuit not to issue any ruling that would attempt “to comprehensively define the limits of the president’s immunity for his speech on matters of public concern — including when and if how to draw the line between the president’s official and electoral speech.”
The Justice Department stressed that it is not weighing any potential criminal liability.
Briefly, the department said in a footnote that it “does not express any view regarding the potential criminal liability of any person for the events of January 6, 2021, or acts connected to those events.” .”
A special counsel is leading a federal criminal investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to throw off the 2020 election.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
