Trump Moves To Recuse Judge In Jan. 6th Case

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(The Guardian) Trump moves to recuse Judge Chutkan
In a court filing on Monday, former president Donald Trump moved to recuse federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election subversion case, citing her previous comments about his culpability. “Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,” the motion for recusal reads. “Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying.”

The filing includes a reference to a statement Chutkan made during cases in 2022 before the special counsel issued findings: This was nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government by individuals who were mad that their guy lost. I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats they were wearing and the garb. And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man – not to the constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. It’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”

“Fairness and impartiality are the central tenets of our criminal justice system,” Trump’s legal team wrote in the filing. “Both a defendant and the public are entitled to a full hearing, on all relevant issues, by a Court that has not prejudged the guilt of the defendant, and whose neutrality cannot be reasonably questioned.”

 

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(The Guardian) Though the filing only surfaced Monday, conservative calls for Chutkan to step down have been mounting in recent weeks. Republican congressman and Trump-loyalist Matt Gaetz filed a resolution to condemn and censure the federal judge for her comments in recent weeks.

Just last night, Mark Levin, a conservative pundit and Fox News show host, took aim at Judge Chutkan on his program.

Making the case that she is “unqualified” to preside over the case against Trump, Levin cited an investigation on Real Clear Politics, a right-leaning website largely funded by pro-Trump conservatives, that outlines many of the arguments used by the former president’s legal team to call for Chutkan’s recusal. But for all the crying-foul coming from conservatives, it will be difficult for the Trump legal team to succeed in getting her off the case. As New York University professor of law Stephen Gillers told Real Clear Politics: “Almost never will a judge be recused for opinions she forms as a judge – in hearing cases and motions. Judges are expected to form opinions based on these ‘intrajudicial’ sources. It’s what judges do.”

Ultimately, Chutkan will be the one to rule on whether she is too biased to preside over the case. If she denies the recusal, Trump’s lawyers could petition an appeals court, but it’s still a long shot.

This also isn’t the first time Trump has tried to get a new judge. He previously failed to get a new judge to preside over his New York State court case and also attempted to get the case moved to federal court. Trump has challenged the judge or jurisdiction in three of his four criminal cases this year, CBS News reports, excluding only Aileen Cannon – presiding over the 40 felony counts charged for “willful retention of national security information” – who he appointed.

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Analysts and experts are beginning to weigh in on the filing for recusal, highlighting the high unlikelihood that it will work.

“Judge Chutkan‘s statements were made at January 6 sentencings, based on evidence in those proceedings,” lawyer Max Kennerly said in a social media post. “The defendants argued they were following Trump’s instructions, so Judge Chutkan addressed that. Thus, Liteky v US applies, and the bar for recusal is nearly insurmountable.”

Adam Klasfeld, a senior legal correspondent at the Messenger, highlighted how Trump has long-been critical of Chutkan, even though her rulings tend to align with Judge Aileen Cannon – who he appointed – and whose rulings he favors. Still, as Klasfeld highlights in a recent analysis, rebuking Chutkan will not likely help the former president. “I think that is to their great peril,” former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner told Klasfeld, noting that treating the two judges differently was a poor legal strategy.

Keith Boykin, a national political commentator and author who served as a White House aide to President Bill Clinton framed the call as a more sinister tactic to discredit Chutkan. “Trump trying to get Judge Tanya Chutkan to recuse herself is textbook Trump trying to smear a Black woman,” Boykin said in a post. “Judge Chutkan didn’t indict Trump. A grand jury did. Judge Chutkan didn’t bring the case. Jack Smith did. And Judge Chutkan won’t decide his fate. A jury of his peers will.”

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) It was uncertain whether US district judge Tanya Chutkan’s two public statements would satisfy the high bar for removal from the 2020 election interference prosecution case.

Notably, the motion by Donald Trump’s legal team did not complain about any of Chutkan’s pre-trial rulings to date, perhaps because in a handful of instances, she has ruled against prosecutors.

The judge, an Obama appointee, came into the case with a reputation of being particularly tough in January 6-related prosecutions after she handed down sentences in some cases that were longer than had been requested by the justice department.

Still, Chutkan is far from the only federal judge in DC – or elsewhere in the country, for that matter – who has suggested Trump might have culpability for the Capitol attack during sentencing hearings. Filing a recusal motion is not necessarily uncommon and federal judges tend not to take offense, former prosecutors and defense attorneys have said, even if Trump files them almost as a matter of routine. Recently, Trump sought to recuse the state court judge in his Manhattan criminal case, which was denied.

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Should the US district judge Tanya Chutkan decline to remove herself from the case, legal experts said Donald Trump could seek to have the decision reviewed and petition the US court of appeals for the DC circuit for a writ of mandamus, a judicial order to a lower-court judge compelling an action such as recusal.

The appeal could be accompanied with a motion to stay Chutkan’s rulings pending appeal, which could delay the pre-trial process and push back the current trial date set for March 2024 while that litigation continues.

That kind of postponement would be beneficial to Trump, who has made clear that his overarching legal strategy for each of his criminal cases is to seek delay – preferably until after the 2024 presidential election as part of an effort to insulate himself from the charges.

The consequences of an extended delay could be far-reaching. If the case is not adjudicated until after the 2024 election and Trump is re-elected, he could try to pardon himself or direct the attorney general to have the justice department drop the case in its entirety.