The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a court filing that it will take the place of President Donald Trump in January 6 lawsuits.
Lawyers for the DOJ told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that the “United States is hereby substituted for the individual defendant Donald J. Trump with respect to the plaintiff’s state law claims for relief.”
“The plaintiff alleges violations of District of Columbia law committed by defendant while he was President of the United States and that the plaintiff was damaged as a result of the defendant’s actions,” the court filing explains.
The department cited a federal law that says the U.S. government will serve as the defendant when a federal employee is sued in their official capacity. “The FTCA [The Federal Tort Claims Act] also provides that upon certification by the Attorney General that a federal employee was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiff’s claim arose, any civil action or proceeding commenced upon such a claim and arising under state law shall be deemed an action against the United States, and the United States shall be substituted as the defendant with respect to those claims,” the filing says.
The DOJ further states that Director of the Torts Branch, Civil Division, Justice C. Salvatore D’Alessio, Jr., has “certified that the defendant Donald J. Trump was acting in the scope of office or employment at the time of the incidents out of which the plaintiff’s claims arose.”
