Judge put Trump lawyers on the hot seat during 'crucial' hearing on Capitol riot litigation: CNN reporter
On Monday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," correspondent Ryan Nobles walked through how a federal court hearing put pro-Trump attorneys in the hot seat on whether the former president and his allies can face civil litigation over the January 6 attack.
"It's very important, because what this judge is trying to decide is whether or not this civil litigation can move forward against not only President Trump, but a group of people very close to him," said Nobles. "That group is arguing that this case cannot move forward because the individuals all have First Amendment rights — basically, allowed them to say whatever they wanted on January 6th and really had nothing to do with inciting the riot that took place here on Capitol Hill. Obviously ... these litigators believe differently."
"During this hearing today, the judge was really asking attorneys for both sides some pretty tough questions, but [he] zeroed in on some of the things the former president said that were of issue in his mind," continued Nobles. "He said quote, 'The words are hard to walk back. You have an almost two-hour window where the president does not say, stop, get out of the Capitol. This is not what I wanted you to do.' The judge also stating later on during the proceedings, 'What do I do about the fact the president didn't denounce the conduct immediately ... and sent a tweet that arguably exacerbated things. Isn't that from a plausibility standpoint, that the president ... plausibly agreed with the conduct of the people inside the Capitol that day?'"
"This hearing is important," added Nobles. "The judge could stop the civil litigation. This would be one avenue of opportunity for folks to hold the president and his associations accountable for what happened here on January 6th. It's not just that... if the judge allows the proceedings to go forward, that would give the opportunity for depositions and discovery. These are a crucial part of learning what happened here on January 6th."
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