‘He’s just challenging the judge now’: Trump targets Chutkan in Truth Social attack

Former President Donald Trump again aimed about the judge overseeing his electoral conspiracy case despite receiving a warning to curb his frequent outbursts.

The former president, in a Monday Truth Social post, slammed US District Judge Tanya Chutkan as “highly biased” and “VERY PARTIAL AND UNFAIR” when he shared a Jan. 6 quote from Chutkan — a well-known administrator of harsh insurgent punishments She brought charges against one of the thousands of rioters who besieged the Capitol.

“The following TRUTH is a quote from the highly partisan Judge Tanya Chutkan who furiously sentenced a J-6 in October 2022. She obviously wants me behind bars. VERY PARTIAL AND UNFAIR!” Trump wrote in an early morning Truth before citing Chutkan’s condemnation:

“I see the video footage. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people wore and the hats they wore and the robes. And the people who raided the Capitol were there in allegiance, in loyalty to a man, not to the Constitution, of which most people who come before me seem utterly ignorant; not against the ideals of this country and not against the principles of democracy. It’s blind loyalty to one person, which, by the way, REMAINS FREE UNTIL TODAY.’ Judge Tanya Chutkan!”

Trump also shared a post in which he falsely claimed that Chutkan had “openly admitted that she engages in election meddling against Trump.”

Lisa Rubin, legal analyst at MSNBC, dismissed the claim.

“That should be obvious, but I was there – and she said exactly the opposite: The fact of the election and Trump’s role in it did not affect her decision-making. When a judge’s quest for impartiality is propagated as interference, justice suffers.”Will Trump?” she tweeted.

The Washington Post previously reported that Chutkan, an Obama-era candidate, was one of the first federal judges in Washington DC to scrutinize Trump’s attempts to invoke presidential powers when he heard from the House Special Committee investigating the attacks of Jan. 6 was tasked with releasing White House communications.

The ex-president, unable to keep calm amid his ongoing legal troubles, has already claimed he would seek Chutkan’s rejection.

“There’s no way I’m going to get a fair trial if the judge is ‘assigned’ to the ridiculous free speech/fair election case,” Trump previously said wrote on Truth Social. “Everyone knows that, and so does she! We will immediately request the removal of this judge for very important reasons, as well as a change of venue, OUT IF DC.” [sic]”

But not long after Trump’s testimony, his attorney, John Lauro, said there were no immediate plans for a rejection and that the former president was merely speaking “with a layman’s political acumen.”

“We haven’t made a final decision at all on this issue,” said Lauro.

On Friday, Judge Chutkan held a hearing to discuss a protective order that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team had proposed to prevent Trump from publicizing evidence in the case through his tirades on social media. Prosecutors had previously urged Chutkan to issue a protective order after Trump posted the following threatening message on Truth Social: “If you’re after me, I’m after you!”

During the hearing she said warned Lauro commented on Trump’s “seditious” remarks and said she would not hesitate to expedite his trial if he goes ahead.

“I caution you and your client to exercise caution in your public statements on this case,” Chutkan said. “I will take all necessary measures to protect the integrity of this proceeding.”

“If your client wants to make statements on the Internet, he has to give in to witness security,” she said.

“The fact that he is waging a political campaign must give way to the proper administration of justice,” Chutkan said. “If that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say about witnesses in this case, then so be it.”

“Even arguably ambiguous statements by parties or their attorneys can jeopardize the trial if they can reasonably be interpreted to intimidate witnesses or disadvantage potential jurors,” she added later in the hearing. “The more inflammatory statements that a party makes in this case that could weigh on the jury… the more imperative it will be that we proceed with the proceeding swiftly.”

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Former Acting Attorney General Neal Kaytal tweeted that “I would not be surprised if Judge Chutkan called a hearing in the presence of Trump, given his recent statements.”

“He’s just challenging the judge now,” wrote attorney Bradley Moss.

“He can’t help it. And that’s not an excuse, it’s outrageous. It’s in direct contradiction to what the judge just warned him about,” said CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said on Monday, by predicting Trump would attempt to lay the groundwork to push for their rejection. “Judges will not allow this, Judge Chutkan will not allow this. I also think it has to be said that these allegations by Donald Trump are completely unfair and completely unjustified. She had other cases from January 6th.” She handled them properly. She judged them appropriately. In no case was her appeal procedure overturned. So these are just rude comments. It will be interesting to see if Judge Chutkan does anything about it. And if so, what?