Former US President Donald Trump has filed a motion to disqualify Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is leading the case in which Trump is accused of attempted election fraud. His lawyers asked a court in Washington on Monday (local time) that Chutkan give up the case. As justification, they cited several statements from the past and accused her of not being neutral, but of entering the proceedings with a predetermination.
Trump is facing federal charges in Washington over his months-long campaign against his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the violent attack on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021. The 77-year-old is charged with, among other things, conspiracy against the United States.
In recent months, Chutkan had already led several cases against rioters who took part in the storming of the Capitol. She distinguished herself with particularly harsh judgments. In one of the proceedings, she stated that the rioters had acted “in blind loyalty to a person who, by the way, is still at large today.” This reference to Trump, among other things, bothers the Republican and his defenders. The meaning of this statement is clear: in Chutkan’s opinion, Trump is free, but should not be, they wrote in the application.
Trump’s move comes as no surprise. The ex-president and his lawyers are trying in various ways to prolong the various proceedings against him through legal motions. He rejects the allegations in connection with the storming of the Capitol, and his campaign team drew parallels to events in Nazi Germany and other totalitarian states.
In the field of opposition Republicans, Trump has so far the best chance of being nominated as a challenger to Democratic incumbent Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential election. In the middle of the campaign for his possible second term in office, he is facing a total of four different charges. Judge Chutkan set the start of the trial for possible election fraud on March 4, 2024. Trump’s lawyers had requested that the trial not begin until April 2026.