WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump asked a judge in Washington to throw out a lawsuit that accuses him of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, arguing that he can’t be held legally liable for a speech he gave to supporters shortly before they stormed the building.
In a court filing Monday, Trump said a March lawsuit by Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, unfairly seeks to hold him responsible “for the unlawful acts of others.” Trump argued his comments to the crowd that day constituted a type of official act for which presidents are immune from civil litigation, based on established legal precedent.
“A political speech by the President is not at the ‘outer perimeter’ of his duties — it is at the dead center,” Trump’s lawyers said in the filing. “It is well recognized that rousing and controversial speeches are a key function of the presidency.”
Swalwell, who helped lead the second impeachment case against Trump, claims in his suit that the former president conspired with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his son Donald Trump Jr. and Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama to incite the Capitol riot and violate the civil rights of the members of Congress who had gathered on Jan. 6 to certify the U.S. election results.
