Donald Trump asked a judge to pause a civil lawsuit seeking to hold him liable for the violence at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — specifically, the death of a US Capitol Police officer — now that he’s facing criminal charges related to the attack.
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump asked a judge to pause a civil lawsuit seeking to hold him liable for the violence at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — specifically, the death of a US Capitol Police officer — now that he’s facing criminal charges related to the attack.
In a Monday court filing, the former president’s lawyers argued that the criminal indictment “substantially overlaps” with the civil case. Having both go forward “would undoubtedly compromise either his right to defend himself in this case, his criminal defense, or both,” his attorneys said.
“President Trump will be placed in the untenable position of fully litigating this case and risking his criminal defense, or pleading the Fifth Amendment and hampering his chance of success in this case,” they wrote, referring to the civil suit.
They noted that Trump is presumed innocent in a criminal case even if he invokes his constitutional right to not testify, but a judge or a jury can draw a “negative connotation” if a defendant invokes that shield in a civil case.
Read More: Trump Sued Over Capitol Police Officer’s Death After Jan. 6 Riot
A lawyer for Sandra Garza, who brought the case on behalf of the estate of her late partner Officer Brian Sicknick, said they would oppose Trump’s request, calling it “nothing more than a delay tactic.”
“There is no legitimate reason that both proceedings cannot continue on parallel paths, especially since no discovery has yet been initiated in the civil case. At the end of the day, all we need to prove is that a preponderance of the evidence demonstrates Trump’s liability for the death of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and we do not need a guilty criminal verdict to do so,” attorney Mark Zaid said in a statement.
Sicknick was outside the Capitol as the attack unfolded. At one point he was on a front line of law enforcement trying to keep the mob from moving closer to the building and was hit in the face with a chemical spray. He died the next day.
Garza, who sued in January in Washington, claimed that Trump incited the violence by promoting false voter fraud claims after the election and delivering a speech the morning of Jan. 6 where he urged the crowd to “fight like hell” and to go the Capitol.
Trump has denied wrongdoing. His attorneys also have highlighted the fact that the local medical examiner in Washington concluded Sicknick died of “natural causes,” although that official also said at the time that the events of Jan. 6 “played a role in his condition.”
A federal grand jury in Washington returned an indictment this month charging Trump with conspiring to obstruct the 2020 election. He isn’t charged with inciting the Jan. 6 attack, but prosecutors used the indictment to make the case that he was responsible for fueling his supporters’ anger and directing them to the Capitol, and that he later tried to “exploit” the violence to unsuccessfully urge members of Congress to delay certifying the results.
The judge handling the criminal case is expected to set a schedule later this month. The Justice Department wants the trial to begin Jan. 2. Trump is due to respond later this week and is likely to argue a trial shouldn’t be held before the 2024 election.
Trump separately is facing other civil lawsuits related to Jan. 6 brought by Democrats in Congress and law enforcement officers, but those were put on hold while Trump appeals a judge’s ruling that he’s entitled to absolute immunity because he was the president at the time.
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