Federal prosecutors indicted former President Donald Trump today for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, charging him with conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiring against rights. Trump fans, as has become their new playbook, have immediately gone after the judge in the trial: Tanya Chutkan.
A special prosecutor has been investigating Trump’s role in the Capitol riot and the effort to deny the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power,” the indictment says, highlighting that Trump knew his claims about having won the election were false and nonetheless proceeded in his efforts to deny the will of the American people.
The indictment notes that even in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump continued to pressure congresspeople to overturn the election.
The charges come after years-long investigations by the FBI, Congress, and a special prosecutor, all of which have tried to prove Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy to stay in power.
The indictment has been expected for at least several weeks. Trump faces four total counts.
Immediately in its wake, Trump fans jumped on the judge selected for the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Who is Tanya Chutkan?
The case will be overseen by Chutkan, who has proceeded over a number of cases involving the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Chutkan has a brief moment of infamy earlier in the Jan. 6 congressional investigation, denying Trump’s attempts to block White House records from being given to Congress.
“Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president,” she wrote.
“The D.C. Judge that will be overseeing @realDonaldTrump case is Tanya S. Chutkan. She is an Obama appointee, of course. I don’t like this AT ALL… Trump will NEVER get a FAIR trial in D.C.,” wrote the Patriot Voice on Truth Social.
As noted by a number of users, she has been harsh on Jan. 6 defendants, giving them some sentences longer than the Department of Justice has recommended. Chutkan has reportedly gone above the prosecution’s recommendations nine times in 31 Jan. 6 cases and matched them 14 times. More than 80 percent of Jan. 6 defendants have received sentences below the government’s recommendation.
Wrote @CitizenFreePres on Twitter, “Trump’s judge has been handing out stiff sentences to J6 participants. Christine Priola’s life was uprooted after she entered the Capitol on J6 with a sign that read ‘The Children Cry out for Justice.’ Priola begged Judge Tanya Chutkan for mercy. Chutkan gave her 15 months.
“Fuuuuuck,” said one user, succinctly, on Truth Social.
On Truth Social, users have already been posting photos of the judge and tagging Trump.
It’s not the first time that Trump supporters have attacked a judge in a case of his. After he was charged with business fraud in New York City, Trump fans went after the judge’s daughter, claiming her work with Kamala Harris prevented him from ruling honestly.
According to the courts, however, this is no conspiracy: judge draws are done at random.
