A judge appointed by Donald Trump indicated this week that prosecutors may have sufficient evidence to charge the former president with inciting the January 6th Capitol riots.
As reported by the Washington Post, Judge Gregory G. Katsas, a Trump appointee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, rejected claims by lawyers representing Trump that a civil lawsuit brought against the former president over the Capitol riots would inhibit future presidents from speaking out on important issues for fear of being sued.
“How many cases will there be with a colorable claim of incitement against the president?” Katsas asked. “It seems like that is not going to hamstring the president in his day-to-day job.”
As defined by Cornell University's Legal Information Institute, a colorable claim is "a plausible legal claim" that "is 'strong enough' to have a reasonable chance of being valid if the legal basis is generally correct and the facts can be proven in court."
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Katsas also said during hearings on Wednesday that he did not believe Trump's speech ahead of the riots alone would be enough to bring criminal charges against him, but he said that a broader look at all Trump's actions leading up to and during the riots, then his conduct "looks maybe dangerous."