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Trump has denied wrongdoing related to the insurrection or to the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. He rallied his supporters near the White House shortly before the Capitol was overrun in 2021 where Congress had gathered to certify his defeat to Joe Biden.

In his speech at that rally, Trump called on attendees to both \"fight like hell\" and march to the Capitol but to remain peaceful.

He has since been sued multiple times stemming from the Jan. 6 riot, including by lawmakers, Capitol Police officers and others who have said they suffered physical or emotional injuries that day as a result of him inciting a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol.

The Justice Department's Thursday filing came in the appeals process for a lawsuit brought by two former Capitol Police officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, who sued Trump for damages over the physical and emotional injuries they suffered while trying to protect the Capitol on Jan. 6.

A U.S. District Court judge later consolidated their case with two other civil suits brought by 11 members of the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to hold Trump liable under a provision of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that protects federal officers from conspiratorial acts that are meant to prevent them from executing their duties.

Trump's attorneys have repeatedly sought to have the complaints thrown out, arguing he has absolute immunity from lawsuits for actions he took while in office.

After Trump was named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed last month by the longtime partner of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after Jan. 6, a spokesperson for the former president said in a statement that he had \"clearly and unequivocally stated that Americans should 'peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.'\"

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