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www.politico.com

The Justice Department has agreed that the federal government will foot the bill if former President Donald Trump is found liable for violating the rights of protesters when National Guard troops and police forcibly drove racial justice demonstrators from a park near the White House in June 2020.

Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/235Vg

  • oxjox@lemmy.mlEnglish
    161·
    3 months ago

    They’re really running with dramatic and misleading headlines here. From what I’ve gathered, the actual story is at the very bottom of the page.

    The former president was initially named as a defendant in the case solely in his official capacity, which would not allow for a financial award.

    However, in March, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich gave the plaintiffs permission to amend their suit to seek damages from Trump. The suit was amended to name him personally liable the following month.

    The JD is agreeing that if Trump were found personally liable, the fed would foot the bill. This is very strange and has little to no hope of success for the plaintiffs given, as flying squid mentioned, the recent SCOTUS decision. I would think they should have stuck with suing The President rather than Trump even if that meant no financial reward.

    • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      3 months ago

      It could be more detailed, but the headline is accurate, the DOJ jumped into the middle of this case when they didn’t have to (just like they did with the E. Jean Carol one until enough people called them on their shittiness to get them to reverse course) and now is volunteering to commit taxpayer dollars to pay any damages Trump could be found liable for as part of a broader effort to have this whole lawsuit because the DOJ really doesn’t like talking about police officers committing brutality after being ordered by their superiors to do so.

      Justice Department attorneys said in a notice filed in federal court in Washington late Monday that Trump is entitled to U.S. government support in the civil case because the suit’s allegations stem from his work as president.

      “On the basis of the information now available … I find that Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of federal office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiffs’ claims arise,” wrote James Touhey Jr., the head of the Torts Branch in DOJ’s Civil Division.

      Justice Department attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss the claims against Trump

      Also,

      I would think they should have stuck with suing The President rather than Trump even if that meant no financial reward.

      I know they can and I’m pretty sure they are pursuing both forms of liability. Lawsuits usually involve plaintiffs making a bunch of different arguments with the expectation that one or more will get dismissed.