Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a South Dakota Republican party rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. September 8, 2023.Â
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump on Monday asked a judge to remove herself from his criminal case for attempting to reverse his 2020 national election loss, citing “disqualifying” statements she made while sentencing two people for his or her roles within the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump’s lawyers said those statements by Judge Tanya Chutkan would “taint” his right to a good trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
“Judge Chutkan has, in reference to other cases, suggested that President Trump ought to be prosecuted and imprisoned,” the lawyers wrote of their motion asking the judge to recuse herself.
“Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying,” they wrote.
Chutkan will determine whether to recuse herself from the case.
Last month, she scheduled Trump’s trial to start March 4, 2024.
Trump has previously railed against Chutkan over among the same statements his lawyers cited of their recusal motion.
On his Truth Social site last month, he said Chutkan “obviously wants me behind bars,” pointing to her remarks from an October sentencing hearing for Christine Priola.
Priola is one among the lots of of individuals to face criminal charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by a mob of Trump supporters.
During Priola’s sentencing, Chutkan said, “The individuals who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to 1 man.”
“It is a blind loyalty to 1 one who, by the best way, stays free to at the present time,” Chutkan added.
Trump’s attorney referenced those statements in Monday’s filing, arguing that “the general public meaning of this statement is inescapable — President Trump is free, but mustn’t be.”
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