'An outlier': DC court’s 'extraordinarily long' process to decide Trump immunity questioned

27 November 2023

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has taken almost one year to decide whether former President Donald Trump "can be sued over his speech" during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, or whether he has immunity, according to a Monday Politico report.

However, the news outlet reports the court "typically decides cases within four months of oral arguments."

Since the three cases were filed by "Capitol police officers and members of Congress" in December 2022, Politico points out that the MAGA hopeful "has surged to the front of the GOP presidential primary pack and been charged criminally twice for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election."

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University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the news outlet, "It seems like it's extraordinarily long, even for the D.C. Circuit," although he said the DC court "tends to take longer than most other federal appeals courts, generally because it handles a significant number of very complicated regulatory cases involving federal agencies."

Yet, he added this case "seems like an outlier," and "certainly on the very long end of that, so you have to wonder."

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of the plaintiffs, told Politico, "I am surprised how long it's taking. The delay does seem unusual, but I'm hopeful we'll get a decision. To me that's our justice system. It's not a perfect one, and it's certainly not one that times itself to one's political fortune or misfortune. To me, all these rivers of liability lead to the same body of water. Will Donald Trump be held accountable for what he did leading up to and on Jan. 6?"

The news outlet reports, "Statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts confirm that the Trump appeal has been awaiting a decision for almost three times as long as the typical D.C. Circuit case.

Politico's full report is here.

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