Trump faces new legal fights over US Capitol riot

Donald Trump's acquittal at his second impeachment trial may not be the final word on whether he's to blame for the deadly riot at the US Capitol. Trump is facing new legal challenges, including a new suit from a Democratic congressman.

A federal lawsuit from Mississippi's Rep. Bennie Thompson accuses Trump of conspiring with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and extremist groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

Thompson's suit is part of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress.

Last week the US Senate acquitted Trump on a vote of 57-43, for the specific singular charge of inciting the January 6th insurrection, but Associated Press reporter Eric Trucker said the new lawsuit filed by Thompson uses a different central premise.

"What it actually alleges is that Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani and two different extremist groups have conspired together to violate a reconstruction era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which prohibits the use of force or intimidation to prevent Congress or other federal officials from carrying out their duties," Tucker said.

Since Trump officially left off, many of those charged in the riots say they were acting directly on Trump's orders. Some offered to testify. A phone call between Trump and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy emerged during the impeachment trial in which McCarthy, as rioters stormed the Capitol, begged Trump to call off the mob.

The McCarthy call is significant because it could point to Trump's intent, state of mind, and knowledge of the rioters' actions, but Tucker said it's still going to be a difficult task to mount a criminal case against the former president.

"That requires a different set of facts, a different set of circumstances than what we know exists today. And the notion of meeting the threshold legally to establish criminal incitement is a challenge," Tucker said.

The insurrection at the Capitol, in which five people died, is just one of the legal cases shadowing Trump in the months after he was voted out of office. He also faces legal exposure in Georgia over an alleged pressure campaign on state election officials, and in Manhattan over hush-money payments and business deals.