Former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for the recusal of the judge presiding over the federal case alleging he conspired illegally to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden in 2020.
The case was assigned to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, according to the federal court filel in Washington, DC Chutkan, 61, was appointed to the district in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama. She is one of the only DC federal judges to have handed down sentences against defendants in cases related to the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol that are longer than the sentences the DOJ was seeking, according to NBC News.
On Saturday, Chutkan gave Trump’s team until 5 p.m. ET Monday to respond to prosecutors’ request for a protective order. The order would prevent the former president and his legal team from sharing discovery materials with the public. Trump’s lawyers asked for more time to prepare their response, which Chutkan denied. quickly.
“THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE ‘ASSIGNED’ TO THE RIDICULOUS FREE SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media site on Sunday morning.
Trump was indicted Tuesday on four counts. felony feds which focused on his alleged efforts to discount legitimate votes in the 2020 presidential race and subvert the election itself.
This is the second federal case facing the former president, who is also the top contender in the Republican presidential primary. Trump was indicted in June in connection with another investigation focused on his withholding of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.
Both cases were brought by US Attorney Jack Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Trump has also been accused by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office of falsifying business documents related to the payment of sums of money to women who say they had had extramarital relations with him. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both the documents and the surreptitious money case. He has denied the alleged affairs.
The former president added on Sunday that he wants his electoral case moved out of Washington D.C., echoing his earlier claims that the region is “anti-Trump.”
Trump previously said it would be “IMPOSSIBLE” for him to get a fair trial in Washington, in part because he has called for “a federal takeover” of the district “in order to bring our capital back to greatness,” according to posts on his site. of social media.
John Lauro, Trump’s defense attorney, has suggested that the legal team will try to move the case elsewhere.
This article It was originally published in English by Ashley Capoot for our sister network CNBC.com. For more from CNBC enter here.
