2023-09-14 16:59:04
HOUSTON ∙ Is Trump safe from legal action? As the cases pile up one following the other, it is natural that the former president is under pressure. Trump, who is preparing to run as the Republican Party candidate in next year’s US presidential election, is also worried that the cases will be disrupted.
Meanwhile, Trump has come forward with accusations once morest the judge. The former president’s legal team claims that Judge Chutkan made biased comments in previous cases involving him. He had filed a motion seeking the recall of the judge presiding over the historic trial for conspiring to sabotage the 2020 elections.
In a court filing, Trump’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to recuse herself because of her past statements once morest the former president. She also points out that Judge Chutkan has recommended that Trump be prosecuted and jailed in connection with other cases.
Trump’s legal team points out that such statements were made by the judge even before the case began. Therefore, they point out that Chutkan is unfit to prosecute Trump.
“Judge Chutkan sincerely intends to give President Trump a fair trial, but the Trump team argues that her public statements inevitably taint the proceedings.” The legal team is of the opinion that even if there is a desire to make the opinion impartial, it cannot be trusted.
Meanwhile, legal experts say the resolution is unusual and unlikely to succeed. Otherwise the Chutkan will have to voluntarily agree to step aside. Trump’s trial on charges of conspiring to tamper with the results of the 2020 presidential election was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court in Washington last month. In their motion seeking Chutkan’s recusal, Trump’s attorneys cited statements the judge made while announcing the sentencing of those who participated in the January 6, 2021 attack by Trump supporters on the US Capitol.
The petition also pointed out that January 6 was termed as ‘nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government’ while punishing the woman who participated in the attack on the joint session of the Congress in October 2022. In an apparent reference to Trump, she added, the violence was inspired by ‘blind loyalty to a man who remains free to this day’.
Trump’s attorneys said their comments “suggest that even before this case, President Trump has come to the conclusion that he deserves a longer prison sentence than the defendant.” The Trump team wants Judge Chutkan to recuse himself from the case and instruct the clerk to randomly assign the matter to another district judge.
Trump also came out once morest the judge through his Truth social platform. In the post, he described Chutkan as ‘severely biased and unfair’. Appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, Chutkan, 61, has handed down the harshest sentences for those involved in the attack on the US Capitol.
Chutkan also has a history of legal battles with Trump. In a November 2021 case, they ruled that ‘Presidents are not kings’. Trump is also facing charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to tamper with the state’s election results. A trial is also scheduled to begin in Florida in May 2024 on charges of mishandling top secret documents.
1694740814
#judge #changed #justice #trial #Trump #argument
