Former President Donald Trump's lawyers asked a court on Wednesday to rule that he has "absolute immunity" from lawsuits related to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Trump is appealing a February ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that the former president can be sued for damages stemming from the Jan. 6 attack, rejecting Trump's claim of immunity because his actions that day were "plausibly words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment" or presidential immunity.

Trump's lawyers on Wednesday asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling, again arguing that Trump has "absolutely presidential immunity."

"President Trump is shielded by absolute presidential immunity because his statements were on matters of public concern and therefore well within the scope of the robust absolute immunity afforded all presidents," his lawyers said in a filing first flagged by Politico's Josh Gerstein.

"No amount of hyperbole about the violence of January 6, 2021, provides a basis for this Court to carve out an exception to the constitutional separation of powers," the brief added.

Trump faces civil lawsuits from Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., two Capitol Police officers and a group of House Democrats accusing him of inciting the insurrection.

Trump's attorneys argued that impeachment is the only means to punish a president for his actions. The House impeached Trump for a second time after the riot but the Senate fell short of the threshold necessary for...

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