美国司法部(Justice Department)周四表示，前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)不应有权豁免旨在追究他责任的诉讼1月6日袭击美国国会大厦。
在提交给美国哥伦比亚特区上诉法院的一份文件中，该部门表示，虽然总统通常应该受到保护，不必面对与他们在任期间的行为相关的诉讼，针对特朗普的诉讼中的指控因为在1月6日煽动暴力，这是一个罕见的例外。
“就公众关心的问题向公众发表讲话是总统的传统职能，总统办公室的外围包括这种讲话的广阔领域，”文件称。“但传统功能是公共交流。不包括煽动迫在眉睫的私人暴力。”
在巡回法院的一个法官小组要求他们正式对特朗普的主张采取立场后，司法部寻求几次推迟。
然而，该部门的律师在他们的文件中明确表示，他们不认为特朗普应该为袭击国会大厦承担民事或刑事责任特别检察官杰克·史密斯正在进行他自己的刑事调查特朗普及其盟友推翻2020年总统大选的努力。
首席副助理司法部长布莱恩·博因顿在文件中反复强调，司法部拒绝支持特朗普豁免权主张的立场不应被用来创造任何新的先例。
特朗普否认与叛乱或试图推翻2020年大选有关的不法行为。在2021年国会大厦被占领前不久，他在白宫附近召集了他的支持者，国会曾在那里集会，以证明他输给了乔·拜登。
特朗普在集会上的讲话中呼吁与会者“拼命战斗”，并游行到国会大厦，但要保持和平。
自那以来，他因1月6日的骚乱多次被起诉，包括议员、国会大厦警察和其他人，他们说，由于他煽动他的一群支持者袭击国会大厦，他们在那天受到了身体或精神上的伤害。
司法部周四提交的文件是在两名前国会大厦警察詹姆斯·布拉辛游戏(James Blassingame)和西德尼·亨比(Sidney Hemby)提起的诉讼的上诉过程中提交的，他们起诉特朗普，要求赔偿他们在1月6日试图保护国会大厦时遭受的身体和精神伤害。
一名美国地区法院法官后来将他们的案件与美国众议院11名成员提起的另外两起民事诉讼合并，寻求根据1871年《三k党法》的一项条款追究特朗普的责任，该条款保护联邦官员免受旨在阻止他们履行职责的阴谋行为的影响。
特朗普的律师一再寻求驳回投诉，辩称他对在任期间采取的行动拥有绝对的诉讼豁免权。
在特朗普被任命为上个月提起的一起非正常死亡诉讼的被告这位前总统的发言人在一份声明中说，他“明确无误地表示，美国人应该‘和平、爱国地发出自己的声音’。”
Trump shouldn't be shielded from lawsuits related to Jan. 6, Justice Department says
The Justice Department on Thursday said former President Donald Trump should not be entitled to immunity from lawsuits that aim to hold him accountablefor the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the department said that while presidents should generally protected from having to face lawsuits related to their actions while in office,the allegations in suits against Trumpfor inciting violence on Jan. 6 amount to a rare exception.
“Speaking to the public on matters of public concern is a traditional function of the Presidency, and the outer perimeter of the President’s Office includes a vast realm of such speech,” the filing states. “But that traditional function is one of public communication. It does not include incitement of imminent private violence.”
The Justice Department sought several delays after they were asked by a panel of judges on the circuit court to formally take a position on Trump's claims.
However, the department's attorneys make clear in their filing that they aren't taking any position on whether Trump should be considered liable, civilly or criminally, for the assault on the Capitol asspecial counsel Jack Smith is in the midst of his own criminal investigationof Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton repeatedly emphasizes in the filing that the department's position declining to back Trump's claims of immunity should not be used to create any new precedent.
Trump has denied wrongdoing related to the insurrection or to the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. He rallied his supporters near the White House shortly before the Capitol was overrun in 2021 where Congress had gathered to certify his defeat to Joe Biden.
In his speech at that rally, Trump called on attendees to both "fight like hell" and march to the Capitol but to remain peaceful.
He has since been sued multiple times stemming from the Jan. 6 riot, including by lawmakers, Capitol Police officers and others who have said they suffered physical or emotional injuries that day as a result of him inciting a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol.
The Justice Department's Thursday filing came in the appeals process for a lawsuit brought by two former Capitol Police officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, who sued Trump for damages over the physical and emotional injuries they suffered while trying to protect the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A U.S. District Court judge later consolidated their case with two other civil suits brought by 11 members of the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to hold Trump liable under a provision of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that protects federal officers from conspiratorial acts that are meant to prevent them from executing their duties.
Trump's attorneys have repeatedly sought to have the complaints thrown out, arguing he has absolute immunity from lawsuits for actions he took while in office.
After Trump was named as adefendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed last monthby the longtime partner of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after Jan. 6, a spokesperson for the former president said in a statement that he had "clearly and unequivocally stated that Americans should 'peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.'"
