Donald Trump is now vulnerable to lawsuits over his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The former president, 77, had until Feb. 15 to appeal to the US Supreme Court over the issue of whether he should be immune from civil cases blaming him for the violence — but he didn’t file an appeal and is now open to legal action.
The lack of a filing was first reported by NBC News.
Trump attorneys and the embattled real estate tycoon presumably had bigger fish to fry last week as the 45th president received two legal blows in separate cases.
On Thursday, Trump found out he would face a criminal trial starting on March 25 in a Manhattan “hush money” case. Then on Friday, he was hit with a $355 million civil penalty for business fraud.
In December, the DC appeals court rejected the 45th president’s bid to toss out three civil cases filed by Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers. But the appellate court ruled at the time that Trump could still raise the issue further on in-case litigation with the trial court.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung seemed to leave the door open for this when he said in a statement at the time that Trump “will continue to fight for presidential immunity all across the spectrum.”
The former commander-in-chief has claimed presidential immunity in both the civil and criminal cases he faces.
The DC federal case charging him with trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election result is currently in limbo while the Supreme Court decides on whether Trump has immunity.
Trump’s lawyers have argued he’s shielded from any liability for acts he took while he was in office — an argument that has been rejected by lower courts to date.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is one of the Democrats who claims Trump incited violence at the Capitol “and then watched approvingly as the building was overrun.”
A group of other House Democrats, as well as Capitol Police officers James Blasingame and Sidney Hemby, have also brought lawsuits against Trump for his alleged involvement in the riot.
The officers have claimed Trump’s actions — allegedly scheming to use violence and intimidation to stop lawmakers from tallying the election result in favor of Joe Biden — were “far beyond the ‘outer perimeter’ of his office.”
Cheung didn’t immediately return The Post’s request for comment Monday.