Donald Trump’s lawyers are trying to pause at least five civil lawsuits that seek to hold him accountable for the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot because of his pending criminal trial, according to filings with a federal judge in Washington, DC.
Trump’s team is arguing that moving the lawsuits forward at this time could force him to reveal his trial strategy for his criminal case. His team also wants the judge overseeing the lawsuits to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity in his criminal case.
“President Trump should not be forced to waive any of his constitutional rights in this matter, nor prematurely telegraph his criminal defense strategies prior to the completion of the criminal proceedings,” Trump’s lawyers wrote this week to federal District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversees most of the civil January 6 cases against Trump and others.
“The only way to adequately protect against this prejudice to his legal position is to stay these proceedings with respect to President Trump until the Special Counsel’s D.C. case is resolved,” Trump’s lawyers added.
Trump’s lawsuits and his criminal case are delving into complex, historically weighty questions of the immunity from accountability that a president might enjoy. An appeals court has ruled that a president isn’t immune from being sued for actions that were part of a campaign.
Trump’s criminal case is currently paused as the Supreme Court looks at Trump’s argument for absolute presidential immunity from criminal charges.
Trump’s team said that putting civil cases on the backburner wouldn’t be an unusual approach when a person is simultaneously both a criminal defendant and facing related lawsuits.
The people suing Trump – including Democratic members…
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