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Donald Trump seeks disqualification of US judge in federal election case
- Trump filed a motion seeking to disqualify US District Judge Tanya Chutkan from presiding over a 2020 presidential election case
- Trump has frequently criticised Chutkan on his social media site since she was randomly assigned to preside over the election case
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Former US President Donald Trump filed a motion on Monday seeking to disqualify US District Judge Tanya Chutkan from presiding over one of the criminal cases charging him with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
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Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said last month he planned to seek Chutkan’s recusal as well as a change of venue for the case.
Trump argued in a court filing that Chutkan’s prior statements appearing to refer to his role in influencing the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters raise questions about her impartiality in the case.
The court filing cites a remark Chutkan made at a 2022 sentencing hearing for a Capitol riot defendant in which she suggested that the rioter was motivated by “blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day”.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the comment indicated the judge’s belief that Trump “should be prosecuted and imprisoned”.
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