Hundreds of millions potentially at stake: Experts say Jan. 6 report opens door to Trump lawsuit

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The Jan. 6 committee released its final 800-plus-page report Thursday, calling former President Donald Trump the “central cause” of the attack on the Capitol.

Legal experts noted that in addition to the four criminal referrals, the committee’s report could open up other legal liabilities for Trump, including potential liability in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Voting Systems against former president’s allies.

New York University Law Professor Ryan Goodman pointed out that the report “opens the door wide for Dominion Voting Systems to sue former president Trump for defamation,” and that there are “hundreds of millions of [dollars] possibly at stake.”

The #January6thReport opens the door wide for Dominion Voting Systems to sue former president Trump for defamation (pp 216-224).

Hundreds of millions of $$$ are potentially at stake.

“Trump has shown a willful disregard for the facts and perpetuated the malicious smear of Dominion.”

1/2 pic.twitter.com/xC4q0aN5ZN

Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) December 23, 2022

Goodman, who has previously written on the subject, explained that “virtually every expert said a defamation suit brought by Dominion against Trump would be very powerful.” He also noted that Dominion has done very well in other defamation cases against other Trump associates.

I have previously interviewed experts on this very topic.

“Almost all experts say a defamation suit brought by Dominion against Trump would be very powerful…”

Note: Dominion has done very well so far in defamation cases against other Trump associates.https://t.co/2A6Jm31JWN

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Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) December 23, 2022

“It was never understood why Trump was not included in this suit,” agreed former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller’s team. “It’s been brilliant so far and caused Rudy and Sidney to clam up.”

Never understood why Trump was not included in this suit. This is brilliant so far and causes Rudy and Sidney to rub shoulders. https://t.co/AxFY1RwMSZ

Andrew Weissmann (@AWeissmann_) December 23, 2022

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen wrote on Twitter that among the biggest surprises in the report, one was “how many OTHER forms of legal liability besides the criminal report are pushing against Trump and his associates .”

What was the biggest surprise in the January 6 report? I’ll be joining @CNN shortly to talk with the great @thelauracoates and @harrylitman

1 surprise is how many OTHER forms of legal liability besides the criminal report are pushing against Trump and his associates

Join us at 1135 pm et! https://t.co/m3p8eHWp5N

Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) December 23, 2022

Experts are also predicting potential liabilities for other Trump associates, including the former president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows. “He’s going for it,” Weissmann predicted.

And Meadows is a central player. He was down for it. https://t.co/wO3qkVXKUi

Andrew Weissmann (@AWeissmann_) December 23, 2022

Former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted in June that “all attorneys involved in the plot to stop the transfer of power as part of the 1/6 conspiracy should be disbarred.” Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe on Friday wrote that he “couldn’t agree more.”

“From Eastman and Chesebro to Giuliani and Powell and at least a half-dozen others, so-called lawyers disgrace the law and endanger democracy,” Tribe wrote. “No one should avoid disbarment. Some should face prison terms.”

I no longer agree. From Eastman and Chesebro to Giuliani and Powell and at least half a dozen others, those so-called lawyers are embarrassing the law and endangering democracy. No one should avoid disbarment. Some must face prison terms. https://t.co/RcL2bWY73i

Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 23, 2022

Watergate lawyer Nick Akerman told CNN that from what he read in the Jan. 6 report, the evidence “proves that Donald Trump is guilty of these crimes, beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Akerman referred to a December 31, 2020 email from John Eastman “where he was writing to other lawyers on the team, saying that they were about to file a federal lawsuit in Georgia, but they were concerned, now because they filed a lawsuit first in Georgia state court. And Donald Trump filed a declaration there, basically stating that too many dead people vote, that too many felons vote, and that there are a certain number of people who don’t even live in state of Georgia.”

However, as Akerman explained, Trump knew the claims were false, but the only way they could file a federal suit was to repeat the same lies.

“And the worry is, it’s going to come back to bite Donald Trump, because he knows it’s wrong,” Akerman said. “But what did they do? They still filed that federal case. Donald Trump swore under oath, that the same facts happened, but then more importantly, two days later, on January 2 , Donald Trump made this call to Brad Raffensperger , the secretary of state in Georgia During that call, Donald Trump raised those specific issues. He told Raffensperger, X number of people have died voted, X number of felons voted, X number of people who didn’t vote in Georgia voted. And Brad Raffensperger studied them point by point, and told him exactly that none of it was true.”

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Despite Raffensperger saying the issues raised were false, Trump made the public statements the following day.

“So, you have this evidence, and the same lies that were repeated, in Arizona, are repeated in Wisconsin,” Akerman described. “When you start piecing together this web of evidence, the details, the minute new details that are being poured throughout this report, it comes from a case that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Read more

about the committee’s final report on January 6

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