Trump Judge Rejects Request to Step Aside From Election Case
- Ex-president sought to disqualify Judge Chutkan in DC case
- DOJ fought recusal, blasting Trump reliance on ‘innuendo’
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US District Judge Tanya Chutkan refused to step down from the election-obstruction case in Washington against Donald Trump, rebuffing the former president’s claim that her past comments about him jeopardize his right to a fair trial.
The judge rejected a contention by Trump’s legal team that she’d expressed opinions on whether he should be prosecuted or prejudged his guilt. She wrote that the comments at issue in Trump’s recusal motion were about arguments raised by individuals charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, and that the former president’s “inferential leap is not reasonable in light of the relevant facts, record, and law.”