Former President Donald Trump called on U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., to recuse herself from his Jan. 6 indictment case.
Trump said on Truth Social that Chutkan was special counsel Jack Smith’s “Judge of his ‘dreams,'” before continuing to attack Smith, who filed the original Jan. 6th indictment, and the DOJ. He also accused Smith and others of attempting to “take away” his First Amendment rights.
John Lauro, Trump’s lawyer, said Sunday the legal team has not “made a final decision” on whether to call on Chutkan’s recusal.
TRUMP again attacking Chutkan and calling for recusal (on no apparent basis).
His lawyer John Lauro said yesterday: “We haven’t made a final decision on that issue at all.”
Lauro also said Trump was approaching this as a “layman,” reacting because Chutkan was appointed by a Dem pic.twitter.com/z8LHGDAjG0
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 7, 2023
Popular conservative radio host Mark Levin recently lambasted Chutkan as the “worst radical left-wing Obama judge,” and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the indictments against Trump, pointing to her judicial history. However, former Trump Attorney General William Barr pushed back against allegations that the charges are bogus, telling CNN earlier in August that although “there are reasons not to bring it” the case is still “legitimate.” (RELATED: ‘There Is No Smoking Gun’: Alan Dershowitz Says It’s Unlikely Jan. 6 Indictment Against Trump Will ‘Survive’)
Chutkan previously served at a law firm that employed Hunter Biden and worked closely for the Ukrainian firm Burisma.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the Jan. 6 indictment, the third indictment since he began his presidential campaign.