Trump could still face civil liability for Jan. 6 — but not yet, as he pursues immunity appeal

Earlier this spring, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., largely denied President Donald Trump’s immunity claim in the long-running civil litigation seeking to hold him accountable for Jan. 6. As Trump appeals the immunity ruling, the judge said Thursday that the litigation against the president will stay on hold pending that appeal.

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The latest ruling reaffirms that it will be some time before the courts resolve the series of separate but related civil cases the judge previously called “the last vestiges of litigation concerning the events at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

In handing down his latest order, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, noted the litigation involves eight separate cases, six of which name Trump as the only defendant. But in one of the cases that has many other defendants, called Smith v. Trump, which was brought by U.S. Capitol police officers, Mehta declined to halt litigation while Trump appeals. Yet the judge agreed the discovery process can’t go forward against Trump himself in that case while the president pursues his immunity appeal.

Rejecting a total halt to the Smith litigation, Mehta said that would be unfair to the plaintiffs when it comes to any outstanding discovery requests and efforts to collect evidence from third parties. The judge observed that “the events of January 6th are now over five years old” and that there’s “a genuine risk that, with extended delay, witnesses’ memories will fade or witnesses will be unavailable or more difficult to track down. The court cannot say that such prejudice is inevitable, but President Trump has offered no reason to allay the concern.”