THE JAN. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol (Shutterstock).

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that former president Donald Trump can be sued for the injuries suffered during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department made the claim in a legal filing in a federal appeals court mulling whether to allow lawsuits against Trump to proceed.

The suits are used on Trump’s speech before the event, urging supporters to “fight like hell.”

Democratic lawmakers who feared for their lives when pro-Trump rioters forced their way into the seat of Congress, as well as police officers injured could sue, the filing said.

The court has not yet ruled on the issue.

Top U.S., Russian diplomats meet

USA and Russia.

The leading diplomats from the United States and Russia met on Thursday in a private, one-on-one encounter.

According to The New York Times, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov conferred in New Delhi.

Blinken said at a press conference he told Lavrov to “end its war of aggression” against Ukraine. Lavrov made no comment.

Also in the news…. Well-known South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted on Thursday of murdering his wife and son.

Sports:  Clippers lose, Kings win

The Golden State Warriors blew open a close game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a 42-point third quarter and went on to post a 115-91 win Thursday night.

Jordan Poole of the Warriors led all scorers with a 34 points. Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga each had 19 points for the winners. Kawhi Leonard had 21 for the Clips; Eric Gordon scored 16.

With the loss, LAC is 33-31 after dropping three straight and dropped into seventh place in the NBA Western Conference. The top six teams are guaranteed a playoff spot.

The Los Angeles Kings got a goal by Denis Gurianov midway through the third period to lift them to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. With the win, the Kings (35-20-8) stay tied for first in the NHL Pacific with the Vegas Golden Knights, both with 78 points.

Also: The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday that LeBron James will miss three weeks of play with his tendon injury on his right foot.

Weather: Sun and then clouds

Our brief interlude with sunny skies in the West Orange County area concludes on Friday with a daytime high of 62 and an overnight low of 45.  Partly cloudy weather arrives on Saturday with a high of 58 and low of 47.

The adverb changes to mostly cloudy on Sunday (59/45), then changes back to partly cloudy (59/44) on Monday.