WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A federal judge on Friday rejected efforts by former President Donald Trump to filed by lawmakers and two Capitol police officers, saying in his ruling that the former president's words 鈥減lausibly鈥� led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said in his ruling that Trump's words during a rally before the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol were likely 鈥渨ords of incitement not protected by the First Amendment."
鈥淥nly in the most extraordinary circumstances could a court not recognize that the First Amendment protects a President鈥檚 speech,鈥� Mehta wrote. 鈥淏ut the court believes this is that case.鈥�
The order is the latest example of growing legal peril for the former president. Just hours earlier, the National Trump鈥檚 Mar-a-Lago resort contained classified information and that it had notified the Justice Department.
On Thursday, a judge in New York ruled that under oath in New York state鈥檚 civil investigation into his business practices. Another judge ordered that his company鈥檚 financial chief be subjected to questioning in another probe by the District of Columbia attorney general鈥檚 office. And earlier this week, the firm that prepared Trump鈥檚 annual financial statements said the documents, used to as a wealthy businessman, 鈥渟hould no longer be relied upon.鈥�
During a planned rally on the Ellipse just hours before Congress was to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump told his supporters to 鈥淔ight like hell and if you don鈥檛 fight like hell, you鈥檙e not going to have a country anymore.鈥� He said, 鈥�(We鈥檙e) going to try to and give (weak Republicans) the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country,鈥� and then told the crowd to 鈥渨alk down Pennsylvania Avenue.鈥�
Mehta said Trump's speech could have directed people to break the law. But the judge dismissed similar charges made against Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. and lawyer Rudy Giuliani, saying their speech was protected by the First Amendment. Mehta did not yet rule on another motion to dismiss from Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, also named in the suits.
The lawsuits, filed by officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby and initially by ., argued that Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and Brooks made 鈥渇alse and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendant鈥檚 express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.鈥�
Thompson later dropped out of the lawsuit when he was named to lead the Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The NAACP continued in his stead.
The lawsuits cite a federal civil rights law that was enacted to counter the Ku Klux Klan鈥檚 intimidation of officials. They spell out in detail how the Trumps, Giuliani and Brooks spread baseless claims of election fraud, both before and after the 2020 presidential election was declared, and charged that they helped to spin up the thousands of rioters before they stormed the Capitol. Five people died as a result of the violence on Jan. 6, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
They have all denied the allegations.
Mehta said Trump's efforts to dismiss the case ignored the theory that his words sparked what followed, but that argument was plausible.
鈥淚n this one-of-a-kind case, the First Amendment does not shield the President from liability,鈥� Mehta wrote.
Colleen Long, The Associated Press
