Current:Home > MyJudge Tanya Chutkan denies Trump's request for her recusal in Jan. 6 case-LoTradeCoin
Judge Tanya Chutkan denies Trump's request for her recusal in Jan. 6 case
View Date:2024-12-23 23:43:59
Washington — A federal judge rebuffed former President Donald Trump's request that she recuse herself from overseeing the 2020 election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C., because of statements she made in court that Trump's legal team argued disqualified her.
Judge Tanya Chutkan said in an opinion Wednesday that her comments during sentencing hearings for two defendants who took part in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 — which Trump and his lawyers cited in his attempt to remove her from the case — do not warrant recusal.
"The statements certainly do not manifest a deep-seated prejudice that would make fair judgment impossible — the standard for recusal based on statements with intrajudicial origins," Chutkan wrote.
Trump is charged with four felony counts over his alleged efforts to stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump's attorneys highlighted several statements Chutkan made they argued were critical of the former president, including telling one defendant that the violent attempt to overthrow the government came from "blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day."
"The public meaning of this statement is inescapable — President Trump is free, but should not be," Trump's attorneys argued.
But Chutkan said she has "never taken the position" that Trump should be "prosecuted or imprisoned," as the former president's lawyers had argued.
"And the defense does not cite any instance of the court ever uttering those words or anything similar," she wrote.
Her comments referencing Trump in the sentencing hearings were an acknowledgment of the arguments made by the two defendants in why they thought they should receive lower sentences, Chutkan said.
"A reasonable person — aware of the statutory requirement that the court address the defendant's arguments and state its reasons for its sentence — would understand that in making the statements contested here, the court was not issuing vague declarations about third parties' potential guilt in a hypothetical future case; instead, it was fulfilling its duty to expressly evaluate the defendants' arguments that their sentences should be reduced because other individuals whom they believed were associated with the events of January 6 had not been prosecuted," she wrote.
Chutkan noted she "ultimately rejected those arguments" and declined "to assign culpability to anyone else."
The special counsel had argued there was "no valid basis" for Chutkan to recuse herself and that her comments cited by Trump's legal team had been taken out of context.
Trump's attorneys could petition an appeals court to require her to recuse, but such efforts are often not successful. They have not indicated if they will pursue that option.
Trump's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Graham Kates contributed reporting.
- In:
- Donald Trump
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait
TwitterveryGood! (8417)
Related
- Vegas Sphere reports revenue decline despite hosting UFC 306, Eagles residency
- A new kind of blood test can screen for many cancers — as some pregnant people learn
- CRISPR gene-editing may boost cancer immunotherapy, new study finds
- Scientists Call for End to Coal Leasing on Public Lands
- Rachael Ray Details Getting Bashed Over Decision to Not Have Kids
- Man dies after eating raw oysters from seafood stand near St. Louis
- Coping With Trauma Is Part of the Job For Many In The U.S. Intelligence Community
- 2 horses die less than 24 hours apart at Belmont Park
- NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
- Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny Were Twinning During Night Out at Lakers Game
Ranking
- Will Reeve, son of Christopher Reeve, gets engaged to girlfriend Amanda Dubin
- Meet Tiffany Chen: Everything We Know About Robert De Niro's Girlfriend
- Thousands of Jobs Riding on Extension of Clean Energy Cash Grant Program
- EPA’s Fracking Finding Misled on Threat to Drinking Water, Scientists Conclude
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- A major drugmaker plans to sell overdose-reversal nasal spray Narcan over the counter
- Solar Energy Surging in Italy, Outpacing U.S.
- John Cena and Wife Shay Shariatzadeh Pack PDA During Rare Date Night at Fast X Premiere
Recommendation
-
Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case
-
U.S. Navy Tests Boat Powered by Algae
-
Algae Fuel Inches Toward Price Parity with Oil
-
Mpox will not be renewed as a public health emergency next year
-
Georgia State University is planning a $107M remake of downtown Atlanta
-
Step Inside Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's $4.8 Million Los Angeles Home
-
World Cup fever sparks joy in hospitals
-
When Protest Becomes Sacrament: Grady Sisters Heed a Higher Call