DOJ Moves to Take Over Trump Defense Against Jan. 6 Lawsuits

The US Justice Department is seeking to intervene on behalf of President Donald Trump in the long-running civil lawsuits accusing him of being personally liable for the violence and disruption at the US Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

The cases have been held up for years amid a fight over whether Trump is entitled to immunity. In a notice filed Thursday night, a Justice Department official told a judge Trump was acting “within the scope of his office” during the events in question, meaning the US government, and not Trump, should be the defendant in the cases.

If government lawyers succeed in swapping Trump out of the litigation, it would rid him of one of the last remaining personal legal threats he faces. But a judge will first have to approve the move, and the plaintiffs are expected to oppose it.

Trump’s return to the White House has aided his fight against a slew of court cases filed after he left office in 2021. Following his November win, a now-former special counsel dropped criminal charges — including an indictment related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6 attack — because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Read More: Trump Revives Bid for Immunity Against Jan. 6 Civil Lawsuits

The US Supreme Court has said that presidents can face civil claims over personal conduct, so Trump’s defense against the Jan. 6 lawsuits has focused on whether he was acting within his official capacity leading up to the Capitol assault.

Trump lost the first round of the immunity fight. But a federal appeals court ruled in December 2023 that he could try again if he could present evidence that key events cited in the lawsuits, such as his Jan. 6 speech to supporters, were official activities. His personal attorneys renewed the immunity bid in January. Congressional Democrats and law enforcement officers who sued have continued to argue he was engaging in personal conduct as a candidate.

Joe Sellers, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said on Friday that they were considering their options to respond to the Justice Department’s latest move. He said that because the immunity fight has hinged on whether Trump was acting within the “outer perimeter” of the presidency, the issues presented by Justice Department’s substitution effort are already before the judge.

During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department unsuccessfully tried to substitute the US government as the defendant in a civil case accusing Trump of defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexually assaulting her decades ago. Following court setbacks for the Justice Department, US officials under former president Joe Biden reversed course and determined Trump didn’t qualify for the legal protection afforded to government employees.

Carroll prevailed at trial against Trump. He’s appealing that verdict as well as his loss in a separate but related lawsuit brought by Carroll. Trump is also appealing a civil fraud verdict in a case brought by the New York attorney general, as well as his criminal conviction on state charges in Manhattan in a separate hush-money case.

The case is Blassingame v. Trump, 21-cv-858, US District Court, District of Columbia.

--With assistance from Erik Larson.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Zoe Tillman in Washington at ztillman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Elizabeth Wasserman

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