On March 31, 2026, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Trump cannot use presidential immunity to dismiss the civil lawsuit Lee v. Trump — finding that his Ellipse speech, the Raffensperger “find votes” call, and his January 6 social media posts were all unofficial acts of “an office-seeker,” not a president.
Plaintiffs' attorney Joe Sellers: “For the first time in our nation's history, a court has determined — based on the evidentiary record — that a president may be held personally liable for harms caused while in office.”
The case was filed under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 — originally drafted to protect people from KKK violence. Plaintiffs include 10 Democratic members of Congress led by Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee. Defendants include Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers.
Mehta specifically found: The Ellipse rally was “an unofficial act of an office-seeker” organized by campaign associates. The Raffensperger call asking to “find” votes “can only reasonably be viewed as the act of an office-seeker” attempting to alter an election outcome. Trump's First Amendment defense was rejected — his words “plausibly” constituted incitement.
This is now the last remaining path to legal accountability for January 6. The criminal case was effectively killed by Trump's reelection. Trump's own DOJ just moved to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — the co-defendants in this very civil case. The case proceeds toward trial.