Judge Tanya Chutkan is already making life difficult for Donald Trump and his lawyers. As RedState reported, Tuesday brought yet another example with a controversial ruling.
Specifically, Judge Chutkan scheduled a hearing for August 11th, a day that both of Trump’s lawyers weren’t available. Why? Because one of them was scheduled to be in Florida at a hearing involving the DOJ’s other indictment against the former president. Recognizing the conflict, both Trump’s legal team and the prosecution agreed that August 10th would work. Instead of granting that reasonable request, worked out by both sides, Chutkan denied any change of date, effectively denying Trump of his full counsel being present.
Of course, anyone who has looked over Judge Chutkan’s background wouldn’t have been surprised by her pettiness. She has gained a reputation as the “punisher” when it comes to cases involving January 6th, and though the charges against Trump are not directly connected to the Capitol riot, it’s likely Judge Chutkan puts all of it in the same category.
Now, there’s even more evidence pointing to the judge having an ax to grind. Techno Fog, a Twitter account (run by a lawyer) that has long been a must-read for anything related to the politicization of the judicial system, lays out several examples showing that Judge Chutkan has dramatically changed how she operates just in time for the Trump case.
This past week, Judge Chutkan gave Trump’s team one business day to respond to Special Counsel’s protective order (PO).
The Court’s local rules allow for 14 days to respond.
Trump’s team asked for more time, citing due process concerns.
She denied their requested extension pic.twitter.com/1yAS5u6U4y
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 10, 2023
The demand that Trump’s team respond in just one day to the DOJ’s sudden request for a protective order was the first big hint that the judge isn’t going to do things as she normally does. It’s obvious that she wants to speed the process up, avoiding any major delays and ensuring the trial takes place before the general election. A week here and a week there adds up, but that’s typically how these matters go, with judges trying to be fair to defendants. Judge Chutkan is taking the exact opposite tact, denying even the most reasonable requests from team Trump.
Techno Fog went on to cite the hearing date issue mentioned above, but where things really get interesting is when he starts providing counter-examples of other cases Judge Chutkan has handled.
In the case of a DC meth dealer, Judge Chutkan gave a 1-week deadline to respond to the PO.
She also set the hearing 2 weeks out after it was submitted. pic.twitter.com/UBM49VVidi
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 10, 2023
You may remember the Maria Butina case, who was an alleged Russian spy. Apparently, Judge Chutkan found her to be a more sympathetic figure than the former president, as the issue of a protective order, in that case, was handled in a far more accommodating manner. In the second example, we have a meth dealer who also got a week to respond to a request for a protective order. For Trump, though, the judge gave just one day and set the hearing a week later with zero care for whether his counsel could even be there.
There’s even a case involving a January 6th defendant illustrating the point.
Important to note that none of those cases involved the issue looming over the Trump case –
A court’s limitations on a presidential candidate’s ability to defend himself publicly.
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 10, 2023
The expectation should be that Judge Chutkan would be extremely careful in granting a protective order against a presidential candidate who is currently campaigning. Instead, she’s rushed things to the point where no reasonable deliberation on the matter could even take place. Heck, she won’t even set a date that ensures Trump is fully represented.
In my opinion, it’s clear that she wants this done very quickly, and she’s carrying her bias on her sleeve along the way. I’ll leave you guys to speculate as to why she’s rushing things, but I’ve got my suspicions.
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