The Daily Fuckup

A federal judge has kept alive major civil claims tied to Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, while drawing a line around conduct he treated as official. In a March 31, 2026 order, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta refused to throw out the claims entirely on immunity grounds, allowing the case to proceed on alleged non-official conduct.

The ruling is not a finding that Trump is liable. It is a threshold decision about whether plaintiffs can keep pressing claims based on his speech at the Ellipse and other actions that were allegedly part of the day’s events. Mehta said the immunity question does not shield every statement or move made that day.

At the same time, the court preserved immunity for conduct it found to be official acts. That narrower split matters: Trump did not win the blanket protection he sought, but the order also did not strip away immunity across the board. The court left the underlying merits for later.

The civil case is part of the broader litigation over the Capitol attack, brought by plaintiffs including members of Congress and Capitol Police officers. The March 31 order means those claims can continue past the immunity stage, setting up more briefing and more court fights before anyone gets to the question of damages or liability.

The practical result is simple enough. Trump failed to end the case with a sweeping immunity defense, and the judge kept the door open for claims based on non-official conduct on Jan. 6. But the ruling also preserved protection for some official acts, making this a partial win for both sides and leaving the hardest questions for later.