Trump zips his lips to camera after leaving New York court during civil fraud trial
Federal court judges have dealt two legal blows in Donald Trump’s attempts to evade criminal charges and lawsuits stemming from his alleged attempts to overturn 2020 presidential results.
A long-awaited federal appeals court ruling on Friday determined that Mr Trump can be held civilly liable for inciting the riots at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 in the wake of his 2020 loss.
The ruling, which followed three lawsuits from law enforcement officers and members of Congress whose lives were threatened that day, finds that the former president cannot use presidential “immunity” as a shield from that litigation.
On Friday night, the judge overseeing his election subversion case in Washington DC determined that he also does not have presidential immunity to avoid charges in a case from US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith.
The ruling followed his legal team’s debut in Georgia, where he is trying to dismiss charges on First Amendment grounds in a separate but parallel case related to his attempts to overturn election results in the state.
His attorneys argued he shouldn’t be on trial at all as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, and that he shouldn’t be on trial if he wins next year’s election, meaning that he shouldn’t be on trial until at least 2029, they argued.
