Trump opts against appealing civil immunity claim in Jan. 6 lawsuits to Supreme Court
Former President Trump and his legal team have decided against appealing a court’s decision that found he is not immune from civil lawsuits that blame him for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, after they previously signaled he would file an appeal.
Trump’s decision to not take his broader immunity claim to the Supreme Court means lawsuits seeking to hold him accountable for his role on Jan. 6 can move forward.
The deadline for the former president to file a petition contesting the appeals court’s December decision was Thursday.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled in December that Trump’s post-election efforts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election were done as a presidential candidate and not as president, meaning he could be held liable for it under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Trump’s legal team signaled it would appeal the appellate court’s decision in an early January filing.
With no appeal for the Supreme Court to take a look at, the three-judge panel formally sent the lawsuit back to the trial court on Friday, where they will now move ahead.
At the time of the court’s decision, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called the ruling “limited, narrow and procedural.”
The Hill has reached out to Cheung for further comment, but he told NBC News that Trump will “continue to fight for presidential immunity all across the spectrum.”
Two former U.S. Capitol Police officers and several Democratic lawmakers sued the current GOP front-runner in 2021 over a law barring the use of force, threats or intimidation that would prevent government officials from carrying out their duties.
The appellate court was asked to decide whether Trump’s false claims of election fraud and his speech to supporters to gather at the Capitol and “fight like hell” were outside his presidential responsibilities.
Trump has a separate, ongoing immunity case. He has pleaded not guilty to four felony counts that allege he engaged in multiple criminal conspiracies to stay in power after the 2020 election. He is appealing a judge’s rejection to his claim that he has presidential immunity, and he has urged the Supreme Court to keep the trial on hold as he appeals.
This story was updated at 3:41 p.m.
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