Justice Department Defends Judge in Trump's Latest Recusal Attempt, Calls Claims Baseless

The Justice Department is opposing former President Donald Trump's attempts to disqualify U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan from presiding over the case accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election results. In a court filing, prosecutors argued that there was no valid reason for Judge Chutkan to recuse herself.

Trump's lawyers had filed a motion earlier, claiming that the judge's comments in unrelated sentencing hearings regarding the January 6th Capitol riot tainted the proceedings and indicated a prejudgment of Trump's guilt.

One of the comments cited by Trump's legal team was when Judge Chutkan told a defendant sentenced to more than five years in prison that those who exorted and encouraged him to take action had not been charged. However, the Justice Department argued that the comments were taken out of context and did not demonstrate any bias against the former president.

They maintained that the judge was simply doing her job by responding to and rejecting attempts to shift blame onto Trump for the Capitol insurrection. The Justice Department further emphasized that Judge Chutkan did not state that Trump was legally or morally responsible for the events of January 6th or deserving of punishment.

They contended that the statements in question were core intrajudicial expressions, which the judge made while performing her official duties and based on her knowledge and experience acquired from the bench. In order for the recusal claim to succeed, the defendant, Trump, would need to demonstrate that the judge harbored deep-seated animosity towards him.

The Justice Department argued that Trump failed to meet this burden. Given the high standard for recusal, the likelihood of Trump's motion succeeding appears slim. This parallels a previous unsuccessful attempt by Trump to seek the recusal of a judge in a separate New York prosecution.