“The district court agreed, as it had to, that ‘speech is unquestionably a critical function of the presidency,’ and it agreed that – whatever one’s personal opinion about President Trump’s position – his ‘pre–January 6th tweets and the January 6 Rally Speech addressed matters of public concern.’ JA 233. The court even acknowledged that ‘speaking on matters of public concern is a function of the presidency.’ And indeed, it is,” write Trump’s lawyers in an appeal claiming “absolute immunity” from the lawsuit brought by Dem members of Congress over January 6th.
“Unfortunately, the district court then misconstrued two critical cases on presidential immunity. First, it held that even though President Trump’s communications were on matters of public concern, that ‘d[id] not answer the question at hand: Were President Trump’s words in this case uttered in performance of official acts, or were his words expressed in some other, unofficial capacity?’ Id. The district court framed President Trump’s argument as a proposed test ‘that whenever and wherever a President speaks on a matter of public concern he is immune from civil suit’ and held such a test ‘goes too far,'” the bullshit “YOU CAN’T SUE ME” story contiues.