Donald Trump says he will ask for removal of judge assigned to election fraud case on ‘very powerful grounds’
Donald Trump said he will ask for the judge assigned to the case charging him with seeking to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election to be removed on âvery powerful groundsâ.
In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, the former president â who pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday â claimed Judge Tanya Chutkan would be unable to conduct a fair trial.
Mr Trump said his team would ask for her to be recused and for the venue to be changed from Washington DC.
He wrote: âTHERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE âASSIGNEDâ TO THE RIDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE.
âEVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE! WE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ASKING FOR RECUSAL OF THIS JUDGE ON VERY POWERFUL GROUNDS, AND LIKEWISE FOR VENUE CHANGE, OUT IF (sic) D.C.â
No formal request was filed with the court as of midday on Sunday. The US District Court for the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US district court judge Tanya Chutkan was appointed by President Barack Obama. She has jailed defendants who were charged in relation to the 6 January 2021 riots at the Capitol, with analysis showing she consistently handed out the toughest sentences of any judge presiding in these types of cases.
On Thursday, Mr Trump â the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination â pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the US by preventing Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Bidenâs victory, depriving voters of their right to a fair election.
It is the third criminal case brought against the 77-year-old former president in less than six months, after he was first charged in New York with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to an adult film actress during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Mr Trump is also accused of 40 felony counts in Florida for allegedly retaining classified documents at his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, and refusing government demands to give them back.
Trump faces a 9pm Monday deadline to respond to the US governmentâs proposed protective order aimed at protecting witnesses and evidence in the case after Judge Chutkan denied his bid for a delay.
She is expected to call in attorneys from both sides on 28 August to discuss setting a trial date.
In a round of television interviews on Sunday, Mr Trumpâs lawyer, John Lauro, defended his clientâs actions in the wake of his 2020 election loss as petitions but not directives, and criticised the protective order.
âEvery single thing that President Trump is being prosecuted for involved aspirational asks â asking state legislatures, asking state governors, asking state electoral officials to do the right thing. In fact, even asking Vice President Pence was protected by free speech,â Mr Lauro told Fox News.
In response, the former vice president, Mike Pence, who is also seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, told CNN on Sunday: âPresident Trump was wrong then and he is wrong now. I had no right to overturn the election result.â
Mr Pence, threatened by Trumpâs supporters on 6 January 2021, as he oversaw Congressâ certification of Bidenâs victory, has become a central figure in the case and has not ruled out becoming a witness against his former boss.
âThey are throwing everything they can at the wall and they are trying to see what sticks,â Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told ABC Newsâ âThis Weekâ program.
Lauro also refused to back a protective order sought by the Department of Justice, saying it would prevent the public and the media from hearing relevant material as case proceeds.
âWe will not agree to keep information that is not sensitive from the press,â Mr Lauro told CNN.
Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday sought the order prohibiting Trump and his lawyers from sharing discovery materials with unauthorized people, citing a Trump social media post that he said raised concerns.
