US election case: Trump calls for recusal of judge 'on very powerful grounds'

Former United States president Donald Trump said on Sunday (August 6) that he would be asking for the recusal of the judge in the 2020 US presidential election case “on very powerful grounds.” The case has been assigned to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. According to a report by NBC, Chutkan is the only federal judge in Washington DC who has delivered sentences against defendants in cases related to the January 6 Capitol riot that are longer than the sentences that the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked for.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, "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."

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"We will be immediately asking for recusal of this judge on very powerful grounds, and likewise for venue change, out of DC," the former president added.

The case

The 2020 election case alleges that Trump illegally conspired to overturn his poll loss to President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Trump was indicted for his attempts to overturn the election.

The four-count, 45-page indictment charges Trump[with conspiring to defraud the US by preventing Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory and depriving voters of their right to a fair election.

According to prosecutors, Trump pushed fraud claims he knew to be untrue, pressured state and federal officials, and incited a violent assault on the Capitol in an attempt to undermine American democracy and cling to power.

Trump's remarks on Sunday come a day after Judge Chutkan gave the former president's team time till Monday to respond to prosecutors’ request for a protective order. According to a report by CNBC, the order would prevent Trump and his legal team from sharing discovery materials with the public.

The former president's lawyers asked for more time to prepare their response, which Chutkan denied.

'I'm being indicted because...': Trump

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Saturday, he told a crowd of Republicans that he was "being indicted because they're afraid of all of us."

"Every time the radical left Democrats do this and the Marxist, Communist, fascists indict me — I consider it a great badge of honour because I'm being indicted for you. I am being indicted for you. I don't like that deal so much, by the way. I don't like that deal. But that's okay," Trump said in his first major political event after pleading not guilty to the charges.

Now I'm being indicted for you are being indicted because of what we've done. And I'm being indicted because they're afraid of all of us, because we have a movement that's never been seen in the history of our country, Make America Great Again," he added.

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