U.S. Court of Appeals Denies Trump’s Claim of Presidential Immunity, Allowing Civil Suits to Move Forward

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that civil lawsuits against former President Donald Trump can move forward, denying his claims of presidential immunity.

The ruling comes nearly a year after the judges weighed Trump’s claims that he was entitled to broad immunity from the suits brought by a group of congressional Democrats and veteran Capitol Police officers, who seek civil damages for the harms they alleged to have suffered because of the Capitol attack.

In their ruling, the judges noted that Trump is alleged to have instigated the riot during the course of his re-election campaign, and said, “When a first-term President opts to seek a second term, his campaign to win re-election is a political activity that does not qualify for immunity.”

The judges also noted that the sole issue before them was whether Trump had demonstrated an entitlement to official-act immunity for his actions leading up to and on January 6 as alleged in the complaints. They concluded that he had not, and that the lawsuits could therefore move forward.

The ruling is a major setback for Trump, who has long sought to avoid legal accountability for his actions surrounding the Capitol attack. It is unclear at this time what the next steps will be in the legal process, but the ruling allows the cases to move forward.