NEW YORK – Former US President Donald Trump attacked the judge supervising the case of alleged electoral conspiracy against him, days after the court warned him not to make what she considers “provocative statements” about the case.
Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan made the warning during a hearing between prosecutors and lawyers to decide what content can be revealed. Trump about the case.
“I will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the integrity of these proceedings,” Chutkan said in federal court in Washington.
In messages posted Monday on his social network, the former president considered that federal district judge Tanya Chutkan is “highly partisan” and “VERY PARTIAL AND UNFAIR!”, due to her previous statements in a separate case that oversees the sentencing of one of the defendants for the riots on January 6, 2021 at the headquarters of Congress.
At a hearing on Friday, Chutkan imposed a protective order in the case to limit the evidence turned over by prosecutors that the former president and his legal team can release publicly. He warned Trump’s lawyers that his defense would have to be staged in the courtroom and “not online.”
Trump posted about the case online anyway.
The Justice Department, through special counsel Jack Smith, requested that the trial begin on January 2, four days after the anniversary and almost three years after supporters of Trump stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent it from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Democrats accuse Trump of that fact.
The judge noted that if someone makes “provocative” statements about the case, they will be inclined to move faster to trial to avoid witness intimidation or contamination of the jury.
Protection orders are standard in criminal cases to protect the disclosure of confidential information that could affect the trial.
Trump has indicated that his legal team will ask Chutkan to recuse himself from the case, which judges are supposed to do when their “impartiality could be reasonably questioned.”
Prosecutors have asked the judge to set a trial date for January 2, less than two weeks before the first Iowa caucuses. That prompted Trump to post more comments online last week.
Trump discussed the case while campaigning at the Iowa State Fair over the weekend, refusing to tell reporters whether he will comply with the protective order. And he added: “It’s all false, Biden took it out because they can’t win an election fairly,” referring to President Joe Biden.
In another post Monday, the former president wrote of Chutkan: “He obviously wants me behind bars. VERY BIASED AND UNFAIR!”
Chutkan, nominated for the post by Democratic President Barack Obama, has been one of the toughest judges to storm the Capitol.
FOUNTAIN: With information from AP
