Federal appeals court says Trump is not immune from civil lawsuits over Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Washington — A federal appeals court in Washington said Friday that former President Donald Trump is not currently entitled to immunity from civil lawsuits seeking to hold him accountable for actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The unanimous opinion from the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allows the cases against Trump to move forward and comes nearly a year after the judges weighed Trump's claims that he's entitled to broad immunity from the suits brought by a group of congressional Democrats and veteran Capitol Police officers, who seek civil damages for the harms they alleged to have suffered because of the Capitol attack.

"The sole issue before us is whether President Trump has demonstrated an entitlement to official-act immunity for his actions leading up to and on January 6 as alleged in the complaints," Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote. "We answer no, at least at this stage of the proceedings."