Trump is asking an appeals court to give him immunity from civil lawsuits linked to the January 6 Capitol riot

• Donald Trump is trying again to get immunity from civil lawsuits related to the Capitol riot.
• His team filed an application Wednesday to appeal an earlier court decision.

Former President Donald Trump is trying once again to get a court to grant him immunity against any civil lawsuits related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Filing in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday, Trump's team appealed for the reversal of US District Judge Amit Mehta's February decision.

Mehta's ruling said Trump could be held civilly liable in lawsuits related to the Capitol riot.

Noting the repeated use of the word "we" in Trump's statements, Mehta said this implied Trump and rally attendees would have been "acting together toward a common goal" on January 6, 2021.

"That is the essence of a civil conspiracy," the judge wrote.

The filing by Trump's team was first shared by the Politico reporter Josh Gerstein in a tweet Wednesday night.

In the filing, Trump's lawyers argued that there were existing means of punishing a president for bad behavior that didn't involve civil suits.

Citing impeachment as an example, they wrote that a "Democratic-controlled House" had already taken Trump to task over the riot, claiming that any further lawsuits would amount to harassment. The Senate acquitted Trump in a 57-43 vote.

Trump's team also said "hyperbole about the violence of January 6" shouldn't undermine Trump's protection from legal action as a former president.

"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," Trump's team said in the filing.

The former president's lawyers also said Trump wanted oral arguments in the case to answer the "important constitutional question" of whether he had absolute immunity.

The application comes amid a Rolling Stone report that Trump believes running for president in 2024 will grant him legal immunity. The former president is facing legal trouble from several directions.

He could also face a Department of Justice investigation into his role in the Capitol riot. This notion was raised again last week when Attorney General Merrick Garland said the DOJ was looking to hold to account all who are "criminally responsible" for the riot.