Judge rejects Trump recusal request in Jan. 6 case

Chutkan, for her part, suggested that seeking a judge's recusal could be seen as "judge shopping."

By Ben Whedon

Published: September 27, 2023 6:31pm

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday rejected a request from former President Donald Trump to recuse herself from special counsel Jack Smith's Jan. 6 case.

Trump's legal team previously asked Chutkan to leave the case, insisting that her prior public comments against the former president "create a perception of prejudgment incompatible with our justice system."

Chutkan, for her part, opined that seeking a judge's recusal could be seen as "judge shopping," The Hill reported. She further insisted that "justice also demands that judges not recuse without cause."

In making the original request for recusal, his attorneys pointed to an October 2022 statement in which she described Jan. 6 as "nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government, by individuals who were mad that their guy lost."

She further described the participants as being motivated by "blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.