A federal judge in Washington, DC, is investigating whether Trump is liable for the actions of his supporters on Jan. 6th. This comes as some of the MAGA supporters are filing suits against Trump, claiming he ‘made them do it’ and part of the bigger investigation into the role other politicians played in inciting the march of the Capitol. I
This marks the first time judges are considering whether civil litigation is a viable route to holding Trump accountable for the violence toward Congress.
During a court hearing Monday, Judge Amit Mehta pointed out repeatedly that Trump on January 6 asked the crowd to march to the Capitol, but that he didn’t speak up for two hours asking people to stop the violence.
The words are hard to walk back,” Mehta said. “You have an almost two-hour window where the President does not say, ‘Stop, get out of the Capitol. This is not what I wanted you to do.'”“What do I do about the fact the President didn’t denounce the conduct immediately … and sent a tweet that arguably exacerbated things?” the judge asked. “Isn’t that, from a plausibility standpoint, that the President plausibly agreed with the conduct of the people inside the Capitol that day?”
On that day, Trump told the crowd to “show strength” and “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” and Rudy Giuliani amped up the crowd saying it was time for “trial by combat.”