Former President Donald Trump has claimed there is “no way” he can get a fair trial in his alleged election interference case, as he called for the judge to have the case repealed and the trial moved out of liberal Washington DC.
The 2024 GOP frontrunner announced on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that his lawyers will seek a recusal from Federal Court Judge Tanya Chutkan on unspecified “very strong grounds.”
“THERE IS NO WAY I WILL GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE COURT ‘ASSIGNED’ TO THE RIDICULOUS CASE OF FREEDOM OF OPINION/FAIR ELECTIONS,” he posted.
‘EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT, AND THEY DO! WE WILL IMMEDIATELY REQUEST A REJECTION OF THIS COURT ON VERY POWERFUL GROUNDS AND ALSO A CHANGE OF LOCATION FROM (OF) DC.”
The post came as Trump’s lawyers publicly launched a defense of the former president’s free speech, arguing that any request for then-Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the results was simply “ambitious.”
Trump’s latest indictments were announced last week and related to his alleged role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has quashed the charges while pleading not guilty.
Former President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that there is “no way” he can get a fair trial in his alleged election interference case. He’s pictured here delivering a keynote speech Saturday night at a Republican fundraising dinner in South Carolina
The 2024 GOP frontrunner took aim at federal court judge Tanya Chutkan (pictured) and asked for a challenge in the case
Trump also said his lawyers will ask for a different location — outside of Washington DC
Judge Chutkan, 61, did not oversee Trump’s arraignment on Thursday but was arbitrarily assigned to preside over the former president’s election interference case.
The former president was charged last week in a grand jury indictment with spreading “lies” and “shams” investigations while stirring up an “angry” mob on Jan. 6.
He is also accused of using “illegitimate means” to try to hold on to power after his defeat by Joe Biden and spreading “lies” that led to violence during the riot.
If convicted on the quadruple federal charge, Trump, 77, could face up to 55 years in prison.
His lawyers now face an uphill battle to appeal his freedom of speech defense to Chutkan, who has built a reputation for her harsh sentences for Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol.
She would be much harsher than Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who presides over his classified documents case.
And though Chutkan has denied a request from Trump’s legal team for more time to respond to a request from the Justice Department to issue her a protective order limiting what the former president can share about the case after Trump retaliated. seemed to promise on anyone who went after him.
“IF YOU GO AFTER ME I WILL COME AFTER YOU,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s lawyers now have until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the Justice Department’s proposal for a protective order.
The former president was charged last week in a grand jury indictment with spreading “lies” and “shams” investigations while stirring up an “angry” mob on Jan. 6.
Chutkan has earned a reputation for harshly punishing Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol
Trump also lashed out at Special Counsel Jack Smith on Sunday, doubling down on his argument that the Justice Department is corrupt.
“MUSIC JACK SMITH AND OUR VERY PARTY AND VERY CORRUPTED TORT DEPARTMENT MAY HAVE BROUGHT THIS (BIDEN) “ADVERSE” CASE YEARS AGO, BUT COST OF WAITING FOR IT AND BRINGING IT TO THE CENTER OF MY ELECTION CAMPAIGN. NOT REALLY!!!
“I HOPE YOU WATCH AMERICA. OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Yet Trump was not done yet. He then used his platform to substantiate his grievances with a lawsuit in Washington DC, citing the city’s liberal voting record.
He even called for a “federal takeover” of the US capital, which he described as a “filthy and crime-ridden disgrace to our nation.”
Trump had previously spoken of his distaste for the capital as he was driven through D.C. in a motorcade for his arraignment on Thursday.
The former president is expected to be back in court for his next hearing on the 2020 election case on August 28, just five days after the first Republican presidential debate.
A trial date is expected to be set at that court hearing.
Trump’s lawyer John Lauro claimed on Sunday that the former president was just exercising his First Amendment right to free speech when he suggested that Pence refuse to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Meanwhile, Trump used his platform on Sunday to lash out at Special Counsel Jack Smith, doubling down on his argument that the Justice Department is corrupt
His lawyers are now trying to argue that Trump was just exercising his First Amendment right to free speech when he suggested that Pence refused to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“What President Trump has not done is direct Vice President Pence to do something. He asked him in an ambitious way,” lawyer John Lauro told CNN on Sunday morning.
The attorney made the rounds on the Sunday morning news – making appearances on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox defending the former president.
Asking is ambitious. Asking is not action. It is core freedom of speech. The press should defend freedom of speech,” Lauro told CNN.
“What President Trump did is within the realm of reality and the realm of free speech. He asks his vice president, “How about taking this action?” In the end, his vice president rejected all proposals,” the lawyer added.
“What President Trump has not done is direct Vice President Pence to do something. He asked him in an ambitious way. Asking falls under the First Amendment.”
Pence said Sunday that he was testifying before the grand jury investigating Trump after he was subpoenaed but did not intend to testify at the criminal trial about Trump’s actions around Jan. 6.
But Lauro said he looked forward to calling Pence forward at the trial, musing that the former vice president would be “one of our best witnesses at trial.”
“The government will never be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump had corrupt or criminal intent.”