Biden DOJ 'substitutes itself as defendant' in protesters’ Trump lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), during the Joe Biden era, has been dealing with a lawsuit that protesters filed in response to former President Donald Trump's actions in June 2020 — when protesters in Washington, D.C., following George Floyd's death, were cleared from Lafayette Square in order for Trump and his allies to walk from the White House to nearby St. John's Episcopal Church.

In a court filing on Monday, August 19, The Hill's Zach Schonfeld reports, the "Biden-era" DOJ "certified Trump was acting in the scope of his employment as president and filed a notice substituting itself as the defendant."

In the filing, James Touhey — who is in charge of DOJ's civil torts branch — wrote, "On the basis of the information now available with respect to the claims set forth therein, I find that Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of federal office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiffs' claims arise."

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In June 2020, Bill Barr was still serving as U.S. attorney general under then-President Trump. Merrick Garland, who now holds that position, was appointed after Biden was sworn in as president.

Schonfeld notes that the protesters' civil lawsuit "was originally filed in 2020 but has since been amended and remains tied up in pretrial proceedings."

"By certifying Trump was acting within the scope of his presidency," Schonfeld explains, "the Justice Department's step would effectively make the former president immune from the suit."

Schonfeld also points out that the lawsuit "seeks an unspecified amount of damages" and that DOJ "filed a motion to dismiss" it on August 19.

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Read The Hill's full article at this link.