Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) introduced legislation Friday that seeks to censure Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election—the latest move by the GOP’s right flank to support the former president in the face of legal troubles.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Oversight of the ... [+]
In addition to censuring Chutkan, the resolution would launch an investigation into her conduct if passed.
Gaetz’s legislation comes after Chutkan handed down a series of heavy sentences—often harsher than prosecutors requested—to rioters who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and ahead of Trump’s likely criminal trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in which she will oversee.
In the legislation and a statement accompanying it, Gaetz accuses Chutkan of “extreme sentencing of January 6th defendants, while openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter riots of 2020” as well as of exhibiting “blatant political bias” and “a complete disregard for her duty of impartiality and the rule of law.”
Gaetz also pointed out that prior to being appointed to her position as judge by former President Barack Obama, she had donated to his political campaign.
He also pointed to statements the judge has made that he argues makes her unfit for her position: when she described the comparison between the 2020 protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death to the storming of the U.S. Capitol in 2021 as “a false equivalency” that “ignores a very real danger that the January 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy” and when she “lamented that Donald Trump ‘remains free to this day.’”
Contrary to Gaetz’s allegations, Chutkan has said she won’t let partisan politics play a role in her decisions during the case. At a recent hearing she said “I intend to keep politics out of this.”
Trump was indicted Aug. 1 on four federal charges—conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding—related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, all of which he pleaded not guilty to. All charges could lead to prison time. The Department of Justice, which brought these charges, argued that Trump and a number of co-conspirators attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to illegally prevent Congress from certifying the votes, put together a pool of fake electors in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the real electors and pressured state officials and legislators to overturn election results, among other things. Chutkan was randomly assigned to be the judge on this case. In addition to this case, Trump also faces three other criminal cases on the federal and state levels for other aspects of his efforts to overturn the election and for other alleged criminal actions.
Who Is Tanya Chutkan? Trump Pushes Judge In Jan. 6 Case To Recuse Herself (Forbes)
Judge Says Trump’s Free Speech Rights Are ‘Not Absolute’ As She Limits What He Can Say (Forbes)
Trump Indicted: Here’s How DOJ Says He Illegally Tried To Overturn The 2020 Election (Forbes)
Trump Now Faces Same Charge As Hundreds Of Jan. 6 Rioters: Obstructing An Official Proceeding (Forbes)