Former President Donald Trump on Sunday revealed that his legal team would be asking for the recusal of the federal judge in charge of his January 6 indictment.
Trump made the revelation in a Truth Social post, arguing that he would not get a fair trial if the presiding judge, Tanya Chutkan —an appointee of former President Barack Obama— remains in charge of the case. Trump also revealed that his team would seek to get the Venu changed from Washington, D.C.
“There is no way I can get a fair trial with the judge ‘assigned’ to the ridiculous freedom of speech/fair elections case. Everybody knows this, and so does she!” Trump wrote. “We will be immediately asking for recusal of this judge on very powerful grounds, and likewise for venue change, out [of] D.C.”
Many Republicans and legal experts have argued that Trump will not get a fair trial if Chutkan remains the presiding judge. Chutkan’s first ruling related to the case has already gone against Trump.
Prosecutors filed a request on Friday seeking to prevent Trump from publicly sharing evidence about the case. Chutkan issued a deadline of Monday evening for Trump’s counsel to respond to the request.
Trump’s legal team responded by asking for an extension to Chutkan’s deadline, arguing that the extension would give the defense adequate time to prepare a response. Chutkan, however, turned down that request on Saturday evening.
The change of venue & motion to recuse that Lauro says Trump will bring are dead losers and will be denied in short order. You have to wonder if part of his strategy is to lose repeatedly w/ crappy motions to try to ground an argument in the public sphere that the court is biased
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) August 6, 2023
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz also argued on Friday that Trump will not get a fair trial hearing in D.C.
BWAHAHAHA hey buddy independent thinking Americans don't need a defense motion to know that Trump has zero shot of a fair process (Chutkan) or fair trial (almost 100% Dem venue) in Washington. https://t.co/YpKRdQi0KY
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 6, 2023
“If the government thinks they have a strong case, they ought to join the defense and agree to move it to West Virginia or Virginia and put it in front of another judge who doesn’t have a long history of anti-Trump attitudes,” Dershowitz said. “So, I don’t believe he can get a fair trial in the District of Columbia.”
