JUST IN: Trump Files Motion Calling On Judge Tanya Chutkan To Recuse Herself From Jan 6 Case Over Biased Statements

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has filed a motion that calls on U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to recuse herself from the federal case in which the former president of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s attorneys cited numerous statements in which Chutkan displayed political bias and called for the former president to be imprisoned before a trial had even been conducted.

In a filing posted Monday, September 11, Trump’s legal team pointed to public comments made by the Obama-appointed judge in cases for January 6 defendants. Chutkan has garnered a reputation for handing down some of the most stringent prison sentences for non-violent protesters convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, an offense that generally results in a fine.

“Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying,” reads the filing. “Although Judge Chutkan may genuinely intend to give President Trump a fair trial—and may believe that she can do so—her public statements unavoidably taint these proceedings, regardless of outcome. The public will reasonably and understandably question whether Judge Chutkan arrived at all of her decisions in this matter impartially, or in fulfillment of her prior negative statements regarding President Trump.”

Trump’s legal team pointed to the case of Christine Priola — a January 6 defendant with no criminal record who held a sign saying “the children cry out for justice” while walking through the building  — who was sentenced to 15 months in prison by Chutkan.

“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,” Judge Chutkan said during sentencing. “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,” she added, implying that Trump should be in prison before even conducting a trial.

The public meaning of this statement is inescapable—President Trump is free, but should not be. As an apparent prejudgment of guilt, these comments are disqualifying standing alone,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing. The legal team also listed additional examples in which Chutkan appeared frustrated that the former president was not in prison.

“Public statements of this sort create a perception of prejudgment incompatible with our justice system. In a case this widely watched, of such monumental significance, the public must have the utmost confidence that the Court will administer justice neutrally and dispassionately,” the filing continues. “Judge Chutkan’s pre-case statements undermine that confidence and, therefore, require disqualification.”