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The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta represents a
setback for U.S. House of Representatives Democrats, including
Eric Swalwell, who last year filed the lawsuit against Trump and
his allies alleging they encouraged the crowd to storm the
Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress met to formally certify
Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.
Mehta in February had dismissed claims against several of
Brooks' co-defendants, including former Trump adviser Rudy
Giuliani and Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. But in that
ruling, Mehta said he would allow the plaintiffs to continue to
pursue their claims against the former president.
Trump, he determined, was not immune from the three lawsuits
filed by Democratic members of Congress and two police officers
over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, because his fiery speech to
supporters was not within the scope of his official presidential
duties.
Trump, shortly before riots, repeated to the crowd of supporters
his false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him
through widespread voting fraud, telling them to go to the
Capitol and "fight like hell" to "stop the steal."
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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