'Blockbuster' Trump legal setback is 'a big, big blow' to his 2024 run: legal expert

A brief from the Department of Justice firmly stating that Donald Trump does not have "absolute immunity" is nothing less than a "blockbuster" and will open the door to a flood of lawsuits to be filed against the former president as he makes his third run for the Oval Office.

That is the opinion of former prosecutor Charles Colemen Jr. during an appearance on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show" early Saturday morning.

In the filing released on Thursday, the DOJ asserted, "Nixon v. Fitzgerald establishes a rule of absolute immunity for the president's official acts. It is not a rule of absolute immunity for the president regardless of the nature of his acts."

The loss of immunity will likely lead to the former president facing a slew of suits from private citizens, lawmakers and government employees who suffered damages related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

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Asked by host Phang how this will play out for Trump, Coleman suggested the former president is about to see a deluge of civil suits.

"So, what does this mean now that those plaintiffs, police officers, those members of Congress can sue the former president, move forward with the litigation over what happened during the insurrection?" host Phang asked.

"A blockbuster," Coleman immediately shot back. "The decision cannot be more important or come at a worse time for Donald Trump. You are talking about someone who is looking forward to 2024 and trying to, as we were just talking about in your last segment, now, another challenge to Joe Biden to be president again, and he has to potentially deal with lawsuits from Capitol police officers as well as Congresspeople who feel like they've put them in danger with his rhetoric around January Six and what happened."

"This is a big, big blow to Donald Trump and significant news," he added. "Because it opens the proverbial floodgates for lawsuits. Now, the downside to this is, while there may be a significant political strain that comes from this, and also the stain on reputation that does further damage to Donald Trump, I don't necessarily know that a victory in court is going to yield much money in terms of them being able to collect whatever judgment they will ultimately be able to get."

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MSNBC 03 04 2023 08 28 55youtu.be