Donald Trump faces a ‘huge number of lawsuits’: Larry Tribe

Harvard Constitutional Law Professor Larry Tribe joins 'Influencers with Andy Serwer' to discuss he impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump.

Video transcript

LARRY TRIBE: Well, it could take a very long time to lay it out. But broadly speaking, he is fully subject to civil and criminal lawsuits, both state and federal, across the land. And he is certainly subject to criminal prosecution by the district attorney of Fulton County for trying to undo the Georgia election and strong-arm the Georgia Secretary of State. He's subject to prosecution in the District of Columbia for inciting a riot. He is subject to other kinds of prosecution for financial crimes in New York, by the district attorney of Manhattan and by the attorney general of New York. He is subject to the lawsuit by Jean Carroll for sexual assault. A huge number of lawsuits.

And the only immunity that the former president has is for actions that are within the outer perimeter of his official power. And it is certainly not part of any job description I know on the part of the president to engage in sexual assault of the kind of Jean Carroll says he did, or to violate his financial obligations. Or, for that matter, to incite a riot against the Capitol and essentially threaten violence against the members of Congress, as the lawsuit filed this morning charges he did. So he is subject to civil and criminal litigation.

There's also a famous statute, really going back-- I've studied its history. It goes back to the Treason Act of 1790, reenacted in 1862, as 18 US Code section 2383, which makes a federal crime out of the act of encouraging, inciting, or giving aid and comfort to an Insurrection or rebellion against the United States, and makes that crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and disqualification from federal office. It's a very important statute. In its current form, it was basically enacted in 1862, reenacted in 1989 as part of a general codification. He could face serious criminal prosecution for, essentially, . Sedition and insurrection. It's a panoply of charges. So he's going to be busy defending himself from now until the end of his life.