Trump plans to ask for recusal of federal judge overseeing 2020 election case and for venue change

Former President Donald Trump says he plans on asking the judge overseeing his federal charges related to the 2020 election to recuse herself and he wants to have the venue moved out of Washington, D.C., in order to get a fair trial. 

"THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE 'ASSIGNED' TO THE RIDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE," Trump wrote Sunday in all capital letters on Truth Social.

"WE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ASKING FOR RECUSAL OF THIS JUDGE ON VERY POWERFUL GROUNDS, AND LIKEWISE FOR VENUE CHANGE, OUT [OF] D.C.," he also wrote.

D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee assigned to oversee Trump's federal election case, donated thousands of dollars to elect Barack Obama as president. Additionally, she ruled against Trump in another case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

Chutkan is well known for dealing out the toughest sentences on Jan. 6 defendants, giving longer prison sentences than requested by prosecutors in more than 60% of those cases before her.

Trump had said last week that he hoped to be tried in an "impartial" venue such as a court located in nearby West Virginia, rather than in Washington, D.C., where the district's citizens voted overwhelmingly against him.

It is unclear whether Trump's efforts to change the venue or the judge will succeed. 

Chutkan wrote in one case where a Jan. 6 defendant thought the jury would be biased against them that it was "not an appropriate basis for changing venue." She also said that instead of moving the case out of D.C., the biases should be addressed when selecting members of the jury, according to Forbes.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all four federal charges brought against him in special counsel Jack Smith's election probe.

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