The former president decided against asking the Supreme Court to intervene and declare him immune but signaled he may challenge the suits later.
Donald Trump is passing up the chance to add a fourth case to a trio of Trump-related appeals already stacked up at the Supreme Court.
Trump elected not to ask the justices to reverse a federal appeals court ruling issued in December rejecting his claim that presidents have absolute immunity from being sued for actions taken while they are in office.
That means at least three lawsuits brought against him in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol can advance to the next phase — a period of limited evidence-gathering related to Trump’s activities on Jan. 6, 2021 and whether they were official or political in nature.
The lawsuits — brought by members of Congress and police officers scarred by the attack — have been pending since 2021 but delayed amid Trump’s bid for the courts to declare him immune from lawsuits related to his actions as president.
For now, that means a Washington, D.C., appeals court ruling that found Trump could be sued for his role in stoking the violence on Jan. 6 will stand. The unanimous ruling of the three-judge panel, which included a Trump-nominated judge, concluded that Trump’s remarks to supporters on Jan. 6 appeared to be delivered in his capacity as a candidate for reelection — not in his official capacity as president.
But the decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals did not totally slam the door on Trump attempting to prove that the event was official.
Under an agreement with the plaintiffs in those cases, Trump had a Thursday deadline to halt the effect of the appeals court decision by filing an appeal with the Supreme Court. None was filed as of Thursday evening, and his aides indicated none was expected.
But Trump’s allies say he is leaving the door open to reviving a challenge to the ruling later in the process. He could try another appeal after the next round of fact-finding is complete, and the trial judge issues another ruling on whether the cases can proceed.
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Trump permits Jan. 6-related lawsuits against him to advance — for now https://t.co/jM8nJXKfnn
— POLITICO (@politico) February 16, 2024
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