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U.S. NEWS Friday 3 March 2023
Trump can be sued for Jan. 6 riot harm, Justice Dept. says

By ERIC TUCKER and ALAN- before the riot erupted.
NA DURKIN RICHER The case is among many
WASHINGTON (AP) — For- legal woes facing Trump as
mer President Donald he mounts another bid for
Trump can be sued by in- the White House in 2024.
jured Capitol Police officers A prosecutor in Georgia
and Democratic lawmak- has been investigating
ers over the Jan. 6, 2021, in- whether Trump and his al-
surrection at the U.S. Capi- lies broke the law as they
tol, the Justice Department tried to overturn his election
said Thursday in a federal defeat in that state. Trump
court case testing Trump's is also under federal crimi-
legal vulnerability for his nal investigation over top
speech before the riot. secret documents found at
In court papers, the Jus- his Florida estate.
tice Department urged a In the separate investiga-
federal appeals court in tion into Trump and his al-
Washington to allow the lies' efforts to keep the Re-
lawsuits to move forward, publican president in pow-
writing that "no part of a er, special counsel Jack
President's official respon- Smith has subpoenaed
sibilities includes the incite- former Vice President Mike
ment of imminent private Pence, who has said he will
violence." In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral fight the subpoena.
The Justice Department college certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington. Trump is appealing a deci-
said it took no position on Associated Press sion by a federal judge in
the lawsuits' claims that the Washington, who last year
former president's words dent has 'an extraordinary no bearing on a separate tential criminal liability for rejected efforts by the for-
incited the attack on the power to speak to his fellow criminal investigation by a Trump or anyone else. mer president to toss out
Capitol. Nevertheless, Jus- citizens and on their be- department special coun- An email seeking comment the conspiracy civil lawsuits
tice Department lawyers half,' they wrote. "But that sel into whether Trump can was sent to an attorney for filed by the lawmakers and
said the court should reject traditional function is one be criminally charged over Trump on Thursday. Trump's police officers. U.S. District
Trump's argument that "ab- of public communication efforts to undo President lawyers have argued he Judge Amit Mehta ruled
solutely immunity" shields and persuasion, not incite- Joe Biden's victory in the was acting within his official that Trump's words during
him from being sued be- ment of imminent private 2020 presidential election rights and had no inten- a rally before the violent
cause the remarks were in violence." ahead of the Capitol riot. tion to spark violence when storming of the U.S. Capitol
line with his official duties. The brief was filed by law- In fact, the lawyers note he called on thousands of were likely "words of incite-
"As the Nation's leader and yers of the Justice Depart- that they are not taking a supporters to "march to the ment not protected by the
head of state, the Presi- ment's Civil Division and has position with respect to po- Capitol" and "fight like hell" First Amendment."q

Number of imprisoned veterans concerns former defense chiefs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two treated once they enter in 3 of the nation's 19 mil-
former Iraq and Afghani- the criminal justice system. lion military veterans have
stan War-era defense sec- Both Hagel and Panetta reported being arrested at
retaries are recommending led the Defense Depart- least once in their lifetime,
that the government con- ment during the Iraq War, and that about 181,500
sider new ways to ensure which marks its 20th anni- veterans are incarcerat-
that military service is taken versary this month, and the ed and make up about 8
into account when courts Afghanistan War, which percent of the state prison
prosecute former service ended abruptly in 2021 population and 5 percent
members. when U.S. forces withdrew of the federal prison popu-
The Veterans Justice Com- from Kabul. lation.
mission, led by onetime Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, For comparison, less than
Pentagon chiefs Chuck Ha- said many of the stressors 1 percent of all U.S. adults
gel and Leon Panetta, of- his generation faced are volunteer to serve, accord-
fered that guidance after similar to those for this new ing to the Pew Research
reports that a concerning generation of Iraq and Af- Center.
number of veterans have ghanistan veterans, except Those risks for veterans are Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel appears to introduce
nominee to be Secretary of the Army Christine Elizabeth Wor-
been convicted of crimes that the United States had elevated by post-traumatic muth at a Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hear-
since leaving military ser- never been in a 20-year stress disorder, traumatic ing in Washington, May 13, 2021.
vice. long conflict and there brain injury and substance Associated Press
The commission was tasked were unprecedented de- abuse issues, the report
with examining the extent mands that the multiple, said. "Once ensnared by barriers prevent many vet- should "create or expand
to which veterans are get- prolonged deployments the system, veterans of- erans from receiving the judicial diversion," which
ting in trouble with the law, put on the relatively small ten present a complex set targeted interventions they would establish alternative
whether they are receiv- pool of people who serve. of needs and risk factors need," the report found. treatments that could po-
ing appropriate transitional While most veterans transi- that are distinctive from Instead of prison sen- tentially allow for reduced
assistance when they no tion into civilian life without those characteristic of ci- tences, the commission charges, to avoid convic-
longer are in the armed incident, the commission vilians without a military has recommended that tion or have a sentence
services and how they are found that as many as 1 background. But multiple state and federal statutes lowered.q