A federal judge has made the decision to allow lawsuits against Donald Trump to move forward, despite the former president’s attempt to pause the litigation. This comes in light of his related criminal case in Washington, D.C., which is connected to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
While Donald Trump was attending his criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued an order. This order was made in connection to a payment made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in this case.
In a court filing to Mehta last month, Trump’s defense team argued that the lawsuits, which were filed by several police officers and Democratic lawmakers who were present at the Capitol during the attack, should be put on hold until the federal election subversion charges against Trump are resolved in D.C.
Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case brought by Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith. The case revolves around Trump’s argument that he is protected by presidential immunity and should not face criminal charges for actions he took while in office.
The former president has been attempting to rely on the defense of presidential immunity in order to protect himself from various criminal and civil legal battles. In his previous motion, he argued to Mehta that allowing the January 6 lawsuits to proceed could potentially expose his trial strategy for the criminal election case. As a result, he contended that the lawsuits should be put on hold until the Supreme Court makes a decision on his claim of immunity.
On Thursday, Mehta rejected the request and ordered Trump to provide a detailed description of the basis for his immunity defense regarding the lawsuits by May 1. The judge also mentioned that his court is unlikely to determine immunity before the end of the Supreme Court’s term. Therefore, if the Court’s ruling on criminal immunity is relevant to the outcome, it can be easily applied.
The judge also rejected Trump’s claim that proceeding with his civil trial could expose his legal strategy for his criminal case. The judge stated that while both cases revolve around the actions of the former President on January 6, 2021, Trump is overemphasizing the importance of this factual overlap at this stage of the proceedings.
Judge Mehta, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, has also presided over cases involving individuals charged in the January 6 riot. One such case involved the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, Stewart Rhodes, who received a sentence of 18 years in prison for his unsuccessful attempts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
The judge presided over the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, a former Trump aide. Last month, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for failing to comply with two subpoenas issued by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack.