Former President Donald Trump is being investigated six ways from Sunday. Every aspect of his corrupt life is being scrutinized, including his businesses and finances. But of all of the awful things the twice-impeached one-term President has done, nothing comes close to the deadly insurrection he incited on Jan. 6.
In late August, seven U.S. Capitol Police officers who were attacked and beaten during the Capitol riot filed a lawsuit against Trump, his allies, and members of far-right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, accusing them of intentionally sending a violent mob on Jan. 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Bloomberg reports that the former President is seeking to get the suit tossed, arguing that speakers at political rallies don’t have a “legally enforceable duty of care” to adversaries or others “who might find themselves in the path of impassioned supporters.”
Trump argued in a court filing that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the former President isn’t “vicariously liable” for the actions of people who heard him speak at a “Stop the Steal” rally before the Capitol was attacked.
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“Speakers at political rallies do not owe a duty of care to members of Congress or Capitol Police Officers not at the rally,” Trump’s lawyer Jesse Binnall said in the Dec. 24 filing in federal court, the outlet reports.
Trump argued in the filing that his remarks near the White House were in line with a president’s right to “take advantage of the bully pulpit.”
He then threw the Proud Boys under the bus.
‘The complaint, which also names right-wing groups like the Proud Boys, alleges many of the defendants “planned, aided, and actively participated in that attack” and that “all defendants are responsible for it,” ‘the outlet reports. ‘The officers also claim the plot was steeped in “racism and white supremacy.”‘
Trump alleged in the filing that he “acted responsibly” during the speech and that he had “simply called for peaceful and patriotic demonstrations.” According to Bloomberg, the former President also denied that he was threatening violence when he said it was “a very dangerous moment in our history” and that people are “not going to stand having this election stolen from them.”
“Under no stretch of the imagination can those statements be characterized as open threats of violence,” he said in the filing.
That fool thinks he’s not responsible for the words that come out of his mouth.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
