Donald Trump must face January 6 lawsuits US appeals court says

Transcript

00:00 A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Donald Trump must face civil lawsuits over

00:06 his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, rejecting the former

00:11 president's claim of immunity.

00:13 The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., found that Trump was

00:18 acting in his personal capacity as a presidential candidate when he urged his supporters to

00:23 march to the Capitol on the day of the riot in 2021.

00:26 U.S. presidents are immune from civil lawsuits only for official actions.

00:31 The ruling clears the way for Trump to face lawsuits from U.S. Capitol police officers

00:36 and Democratic lawmakers seeking to hold the former president accountable for the violence

00:40 by his supporters, who sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

00:45 The decision only focused on whether Trump could be sued, and said nothing about the

00:49 merits of the cases themselves.

00:51 A Trump spokesperson on Friday called the ruling "limited, narrow, and procedural"

00:56 and said Trump was acting on behalf of the American people on the day of the attack.

01:01 The case is one of several civil and criminal challenges facing the frontrunner for the

01:04 Republican presidential nomination, who wants a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.