Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would ask a US court to remove the judge from his criminal trial because he believes the person presiding over the jury that will decide the ex-president’s destiny will not treat him fairly.
The twice-impeached Republican has hurled a barrage of insults at those in charge of his legal defense or the prosecution of the case in which he is accused of attempting to rig the 2020 election and defraud the United States.
His most recent target is US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case in Washington as an Obama appointment.
“With the judge ‘assigned’ to the absurd freedom of speech/fair elections issue,’ I have little chance of receiving a fair trial. Everyone is aware of this, even her, “Trump wrote in all capital letters on his Truth Social platform.
Out of Washington, a city with a predominantly Black population that votes overwhelmingly Democratic, “We will be asking for recusal of this judge on very powerful grounds, and similarly for venue change,” as soon as possible.
Chutkan has rejected recent requests from the Trump legal team.
She rejected their plea on Saturday to extend the deadline for replying to the US government’s request for a protective order, which may have limited what information Trump and his attorneys can publicly release about his client’s case.
The court rejected Team Trump’s request to extend the deadline until Thursday, saying they must stick to the existing deadline of 5:00 pm on Monday.
Chutkan, 61, was chosen at random from a panel of 12 judges to preside over the case at the Washington federal district court.
She and Trump have a judicial history together; in a case from November 2021, she rendered a decision against him and famously said that “presidents are not kings.” Additionally, she has sentenced Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 of that year to long prison terms.
Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican primary for president in 2024, has not only retaliated against her but also denigrated Washington.
He entered a not guilty plea to the four accusations against him during his Thursday appearance, and shortly thereafter, he talked to media and referred to the capital as a place of “filth and decay.”
On August 28 during a hearing before Chutkan, it is anticipated that Trump’s trial date in the election case will be revealed.
