Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he can’t get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., with the judge overseeing the case regarding allegations he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was selected to preside over the case, is a former President Barack Obama appointee and has long been a Democratic donor. She also worked at a law firm that hired Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. She has also delivered harsh sentences to protestors charged in relation to the January 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump added he would ask his legal team to request that Chutkan be removed from the case, and he will be seeking a change of venue because the tainted jury pool in Washington will likely be filled with Democrat voters.
“There is no way I can get a fair trial with the judge ‘assigned’ to the ridiculous freedom of speech/fair elections case,” wrote Trump in all caps. “Everybody knows this, and so does she! We will be immediately asking for recusal of this judge on very powerful grounds, and likewise for venue change, out of D.C.”
Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to four charges related to alleged actions he tried to subvert the 2020 election.
Although Chutkan didn’t preside over the arraignment, she recently rejected a bid by Trump’s legal team requesting more time to respond to the Department of Justice’s request for her to issue an order that limits what Trump can publicly share about the case.
Trump’s team questions the impartiality of the judge
Prosecutors made the request after the former president posted in all-caps Friday on Truth Social, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.” Trump’s team has until 5 p.m. EDT Monday to respond to the request.
On Wednesday, general counsel for Save America PAC, Alina Habba, said, “There are processes that we can go through if we do believe that this judge is compromised or won’t be able to give a fair shake. It’s a motion for recusal.”
“The only issue with recusal motions — and I’m not familiar with the criminal court system — but in civil law, the judge decides whether they can be impartial…so we’ll see how it works,” said Habba. “I’ll leave that to our criminal attorneys, but that’s typically what you do.”
“I can’t see how you could possibly be a person who donates to the Democratic Party, a person who sat on the board with the [son of the] current president and political opponent to President Trump…and then sit and oversee this case. That just doesn’t make sense to me,” said Habba.
