Donald Trump has said he will ask the judge in his election fraud case to step aside on what he called “very powerful grounds”.
He claimed that “there is no way I can get a fair trial” unless she does. His call came after the prosecution requested a court order that would limit what he can publicly say about the case.
The judge, Tanya Chutkan, was appointed by former president Barack Obama. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday morning, describing the case as “the ridiculous freedom of speech, slash fair elections case” and saying that his legal team would immediately be asking for recusal of the judge.
He give no details of his grounds for asking her to step down. Judge Chutkan previously ruled against Mr Trump’s efforts to shield evidence from the House January 6 Committee and has faced frequent attacks from Trump allies in recent days. Mr Trump had described her and the Department of Justice (DOJ) as “highly partisan and very corrupt”.
Judge Chutkan, who was appointed in 2014, is the only federal judge in Washington who has delivered sentences against defendants in cases related to the 6 January Capitol riot that are longer than the sentences that the DOJ asked for, according to NBC News.
Any judge of the United States shall disqualify themselves in any proceeding in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned, according to the US Department of Justice.
Recusal of the judge was not the only thing Mr Trump said he would request. He also wants his case to be moved out of Washington.
He says that it is “impossible for him to get a fair trial in Washington”, which he describes as “anti-Trump”.
Who is the hard-line judge on Trump’s election case? Trump social media post flagged to judge in court filing
Earlier this week, Mr Trump wrote in capital letters, “If you go after me, I am coming after you!” on Truth Social, just a day after he pleaded not guilty to four charges in the alleged election fraud case.
And the same night, the prosecutors said they feared Mr Trump might disclose confidential evi-dence and asked for a protective order to prevent “the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public”.
Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Mr Trump’s legal team until 17:00 local time on Monday to respond to the submission. Mr Trump’s lawyers asked for three more days, but the judge denied their request.
Judge Chutkan, a noted hardliner on cases against those accused of participation in the Capitol riots, is expected to call in attorneys from both sides on 28 August to discuss setting a trial date.—AFP
