Trump seeks disqualification of Obama-appointed judge from election subversion case

Former US president Donald Trump on Monday (September 11) filed a motion, seeking to removeUS District Judge Tanya Chutkan from one of the 2020 election subversion casesbrought against him by special counsel Jack Smith.

According to the court filing, Trump argued that Chutkan, who was appointed by Barack Obama,should recuse herself, primarily because of her comments in previous casesinvolving January 6 US capitol rioters.

"Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying," read the court filing.

"The public will reasonably and understandably question whether Judge Chutkan arrived at all of her decisions in this matter impartially, or in fulfilment of her prior negative statements regarding President Trump," it added.

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Trump highlightsChutkan's bias

Trump's lawyers highlighted the October 2022 sentencing hearingin which Chutkan took a scathing view of the Capitol Hill rioters and slammed Trump, without taking his name.

"I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats they were wearing and the garb. And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man -- not to the Constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. It's a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day," she said in the ruling.

In another ruling of hers where Trump attempted to block a House select committee from accessing more than 700 pages of records from the White House to investigate the January 6 riots, Chutkan said: "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."

Notably, this is not the first instance when Trump has attempted to disqualify the judges presiding over his cases. In the hush money case involving former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trumpargued thatJudge Juan Merchan shouldrecuse himself due to his daughter’s politician consulting work, which included in 2020 the Biden campaign and now-Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Special counsel Smith has charged Trump with four felony counts for allegedly attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Republican leader has pleaded not guilty to all charges and continues to campaign to secure the Republicannomination for the 2024 polls.

(With inputs from agencies)

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