Former President Donald Trump is urging the recusal of the presiding judge in the federal case concerning alleged 2020 election interference.
He's referring to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Judge Chutkan, who is an Obama appointee and was randomly assigned to Trump's case, has sentenced at least three dozen people involved in the Capitol insurrection, and she's also dealt with Donald Trump before.
In November 2021, she ruled against Trump, saying that the bipartisan Jan. 6 committee could access Trump's records from the White House. She wrote at the time, "Presidents are not kings."
Trump said in a Truth Social post that he and his lawyers will be "immediately asking for recusal of this judge on very powerful grounds."
Furthermore, Trump also insisted he wouldn't get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., and said he wanted a change in venue.
In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump said that having a fair trial would be "impossible" in D.C., insinuating that the proceedings should be relocated to the neighboring and politically "unbiased" state of West Virginia, noting that D.C. "is over 95% anti-Trump."
Judge denies Trump team's protective order extension in election case
The protective order requested would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the 2020 election subversion case.
GOP presidential hopeful and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who once served as a U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, rejects Trump's claim about not getting a fair trial."I believe jurors can be fair. I believe in the American people, and I believe in the fact that jurors will listen fairly and impartially," said Christie.
These social media posts by the former president come a day after Judge Chutkan denied the request of Trump's legal team for an extension to respond to the Department of Justice's request for a protective order, after prosecutors said that the former president posted on social media a promise of revenge on anyone who went after him.
The order would restrict what information Trump and his legal team can publicly share about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Their main concern is focused on Trump's social media posts about "witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him."
Judge Chutkan gave Trump's legal team until 5 p.m. Monday to reply to the government's request.
While we await responses regarding the request for recusal, venue change, and protective order, it's important to note that the state of Georgia remains on indictment watch as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could charge the former president any day.
