Trump says he’ll seek a recent judge in election case

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for recusal of the judge presiding over the federal case that alleges he illegally conspired to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden in 2020.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, in line with the docket in federal court in Washington, D.C. Chutkan, 61, was appointed to the district in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama. She is the one federal judge in D.C. who has delivered sentences against defendants in cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot which might be longer than the sentences that the DOJ asked for, in line with NBC News.

On Saturday, Chutkan gave Trump’s team until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to reply to prosecutors’ request for a protective order. The order would prevent the previous president and his legal team from sharing discovery materials with the general public. Trump’s attorneys asked for more time to arrange their response, which Chutkan swiftly denied.

“THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE ‘ASSIGNED’ TO THE REDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE. EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social Sunday morning.

Trump was indicted Tuesday on 4 federal felony charges that centered on his alleged efforts to discount legitimate votes within the 2020 presidential race and subvert the election itself.

That is the second federal case facing the previous president, who can also be the highest contender within the Republican presidential primary. Trump was charged in June in reference to one other probe centered on his retention of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.

Each cases were brought by federal prosecutor Jack Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Trump has also been charged by Manhattan prosecutors with falsifying business records related to hush money payments to women who say they’d extramarital affairs with him. Trump has pleaded not guilty within the documents case and the hush money case. He has denied the alleged trysts.

The previous president added Sunday that he desires to have his election case moved out of Washington, D.C., echoing his earlier claims that the region is “anti-Trump.”

Trump previously said it will be “IMPOSSIBLE” for him to get a good trial in Washington, partly because he has called for “a Federal TAKEOVER” of the district “in an effort to bring our Capital back to Greatness,” in line with posts on his social media site.

John Lauro, a defense attorney for Trump, has suggested the legal team will seek to maneuver the case to a special venue.