A legal brief filed by the Department of Justice that made the case that Donald Trump does not have unlimited immunity for his words and actions while he was president has far-reaching implications for multiple investigations that could result in indictments.
That is the opinion of multiple legal scholars, with one saying it is an ominous sign for the former president whose lawyers will see a key defense stripped away if a federal court agrees.
Last week, the DOJ submitted the brief that makes it easier for Capitol police officers to sue Trump over his actions and words related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, without actually endorsing their lawsuits.
In interviews with the Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery, legal experts made the case that the brief could not only be a sign that the DOJ will also be coming for the former president for incitement, but it also hands Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a powerful weapon as she seeks an indictment before a Georgia grand jury.
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Pagliery wrote, “The department clarified that Trump’s speech, full of vitriol and fury, was not protected by presidential immunity, nor was it protected by his own free speech rights under the First Amendment,” before adding, “…by making clear that Trump’s speech was outside the norms of his office, it stripped the former president of virtually any defense he could make.”
According to one DOJ insider, “If they took the position that the president was absolutely immune, then they wouldn’t be able to bring a criminal prosecution.”
The report states that sources who have been briefed on special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations indicated, “Trump still faces potential criminal liability over the way he encouraged his MAGA devotees to march on the Capitol building on that early 2021 winter afternoon.”
As for the Willis investigation in Georgia, legal scholar Norm Eisen stated the DOJ handed her important reinforcement as she seeks indictments for 2020 election tampering and racketeering.
“It has profound implications for the Georgia case, and they are ominous for Trump,” Eisen explained before adding, “This brief is going to be utilized by the Fulton County prosecutor because it is so powerfully indicative of the only possible logical conclusion here: that an attempted coup cannot be part of the job description of a president under the United States Constitution.”
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