Former US President Donald Trump demanded the recusal of Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is leading the trial in the case of storming the Capitol, according to a document published in the judicial database.
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“Judge Chutkan, in the context of other cases, proposed to convict and imprison Trump. Such statements made before the start of this trial and without due process are inherently disqualifying,” Trump’s lawyers said in the motion.
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Earlier, a court in Washington set the start of Trump’s trial for March 4, 2024.
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The district court of the American capital is considering a federal case alleging Trump’s attempts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election in his favor, with the storming of the Capitol as one of the episodes.
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Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision means the trial will take place in the midst of Trump’s presidential campaign.
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The defense asked for the trial to be postponed until 2026 and, having been refused, stated that it would not be able to “provide adequate representation” by the appointed date.
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On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, blocking Congress for several hours. After the protesters were expelled from the building, congressmen confirmed Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Hundreds of people in the US were subsequently arrested by law enforcement on charges related to their participation in the assault. Trump was charged with four counts: “conspiracy to defraud the United States,” “conspiracy to interfere with official proceedings,” “interference and attempted interference with official proceedings,” and “conspiracy against rights.” The ex-president declared his innocence in court.
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Chutkan in 2019 sentenced Maria Butina to 18 months in prison for “conspiracy to illegally work as a foreign agent”; she was later deported to Russia. The State Duma deputy herself told that Chutkan did not take part in the process, but only read from a piece of paper. According to Butina, “this is not a judge, this is a person who simply reads out a guilty verdict from the words of the prosecutor’s office” and “an absolutely obedient functionary.”
