Trump’s Motion Seeking Judge’s Recusal DENIED

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Former President Donald Trump’s motion seeking the recusal of Judge Tanya Chutkan from his federal criminal case in Washington, D.C. was denied on Wednesday evening.

Attorneys for Trump requested Chutkan recuse herself from the case in which the former president was indicted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s legal team pointed to statements Chutkan made while sentencing defendants in cases connected to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, where Trump supporters stormed the building after he falsely told them the election had been rigged.

“At the outset, it bears noting that the court has never taken the position the defense ascribes to it: that former ‘President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,’” Chutkan wrote in a 20-page decision. “And the defense does not cite any instance of the court ever uttering those words or anything similar.”

The move by Trump was viewed as something of a longshot in the case, which is one of two federal criminal cases he currently faces. He is also under criminal indictment at the state level.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump in both trials, alleges in a four-count indictment that Trump engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the United States, engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructed and attempted to obstruct an official proceeding, and engaged in a conspiracy against rights.

Smith is also prosecuting Trump over his retention of government documents after leaving office. In that case, Trump has been charged with the willful retention of classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.