Trump Claims Immunity Over ‘Burn Congress Down’ Hypothetical
- Appeals court probed limits of presidential liability shield
- Trump is facing suits over Jan. 6 from Democrats, police
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Donald Trump’s lawyer argued that presidential immunity would protect him from lawsuits even if he had urged his supporters to “burn Congress down” while in office.
Trump has asserted sweeping immunity against suits by both police officers and Democratic members of Congress accusing the former president of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol in his final days in office. A federal judge in Washington previously rejected Trump’s claim, but his lawyer, Jesse Binnall, on Wednesday made a renewed argument before the DC Circuit US Court of Appeals.