Trump files motion to disqualify US judge in 2020 election case

Former US President Donald Trump filed a motion on Monday seeking to disqualify US District Judge Tanya Chutkan from presiding over the criminal case charging him with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.

Trump said last month he planned to seek Chutkan’s recusal as well as a change of venue for the case.

Trump argued in a court filing that Chutkan’s prior statements appearing to refer to Trump’s role in influencing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters raise questions about her impartiality in the case.

The court filing cites a remark Chutkan made at a 2022 sentencing hearing for a Capitol riot defendant in which she suggested that the rioter was motivated by “blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”

Trump’s lawyers argued that the comment indicated the judge’s belief that Trump “should be prosecuted and imprisoned.”