Last week, the Justice Department argued that Capitol Police officers and Democrat lawmakers should be allowed to sue former President Donald Trump over the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol, the Associated Press reported.
In a legal filing in federal appeals court last Thursday, the DOJ rejected Trump’s claim that he is immune from litigation, arguing that the lawsuits should move forward. While the DOJ said it holds no position on the claims made against Trump in the lawsuits, its lawyers argued in court that no president is protected by “absolute immunity” if his words incite “imminent private violence.”
The former president’s lawyers have argued that Trump was acting within his official duties when he spoke at the Stop the Steal rally and that he did not intend for violence when he urged his supporters to march to the US Capitol building on January 6. In their court filing, Trump’s lawyers maintained that the actions of the rioters at the Capitol did not “strip” the former president of immunity.
In response to the Justice Department’s filing, one of the Democrat lawmakers included in the lawsuit against Trump told MSNBC that moving forward with the lawsuit would be in the “best interest” of the country.
California Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee of California appeared on MSNBC’s “Deadline” last Thursday to celebrate the Justice Department’s filing. She said the lawsuit against the former president is rooted in the argument that he is “not immune from the actions he took that day.” She claimed that Trump “directed” “insurrectionists” who attempted to “perpetuate” a coup on both the Capitol and “our democracy.”
Lee, who is running to replace Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that while the plaintiffs are still awaiting a decision from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, she believes it is important to discuss “redressing the harm” both to the Democrat lawmakers suing Trump and to “our democracy.”
Vowing not to give up the fight to win the lawsuit against Trump, Lee added that getting justice for the Democrats suing Trump is “in the country’s best interests.”
