The Supreme Court left a narrow window open to hold presidents accountable for acts committed in office unrelated to the office. Trump wants to close it.
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers are fond of claiming in court that the presidency afforded him complete immunity in judicial proceedings: They first claimed that immunity in state courts a mere six months into his term of office, in response to a defamation lawsuit filed by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos (the courts sided with her); they claimed it in challenging the Manhattan district attorney’s subpoena involving the Trump Organization’s taxes (in which the Supreme Court ruled against Trump); and they claimed that Trump should be dismissed as a defendant in a New York federal defamation lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll (which a judge denied).
Now one of his lawyers is claiming it in two lawsuits by members of the House of Representatives that seek to hold Trump civilly liable for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
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Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-trump-s-claims-presidential-immunity-capitol-riot-lawsuits-cannot-ncna1269078