September 11, 2023
It’s official.
Former President Trump wants the Washington DC federal judge overseeing his federal election interference case to recuse herself.
Trump’s lawyers filed this 9-page motion to Judge Tanya Chutkan saying her previous statements in court should be disqualifying.
The examples the trump team gave in the filing were all pulled from sentencing hearings that Judge Chutkan presided over for several January 6th rioters who were convicted of their criminal actions on that day.
In one example from October of 2022, trump’s team quoted Judge Chutkan as saying– “the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty to one man…it’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.” The trump team believes that statement suggests that Judge Chutkan thinks the former President should not be free.
Another example in the trump filing was during another sentencing hearing where Judge Chutkan said to a convicted January 6th rioter, “you have made a very good point, one that has been made before – that the people who exhorted you and encouraged you and rallied you to go and take action and to fight have not been charged.” The Trump team suggests that sentence means Judge Chutkan thinks Trump is responsible for January 6th. It’s also important to know that the very next sentence from Chutkan was “that is *not* this court’s position.”
So – the question is – will she recuse herself? Well, under the due process clauses of the Constitution judges are required to recuse theses from cases in two situations.
One, where the judge has a financial interest in the case’s outcome and two, where there is otherwise a strong possibility that the judge’s decision will be biased.
The trump team argues in this filing that Judge Chutkan has a bias against the former President. Now, for some context – federal judges are randomly selected to oversee trials. Judge Chutkan was randomly selected. So was the judge who is presiding over the President’s other criminal case – the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. That judge – Judge Aileen Cannon — was actually appointed by former president trump. An argument could be made that a trump appointed judge overseeing a criminal case where Trump is the defendant could have a bias that would benefit Trump. But at this point — Special Counsel Jack Smith has not filed any motion for judge cannon to recuse herself.
In the end, the decision to recuse is up to the judge. It’s unclear when Judge Chutkan will rule on this motion
Read the Trump filing asking Judge Chutkan to recuse herself here.
