The criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election are some of the most serious allegations facing him, one law professor told NPR.
In this case, Trump is also facing a serious Washington, D.C., federal judge with years of experience, Tobias said. The case has been assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.
According to The Associated Press, Chutkan stood out for her tough punishment for Jan. 6 rioters. In at least seven cases examined by the AP, Chutkan imposed harsher penalties than what federal prosecutors sought for those rioters.
The AP wrote, "Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has consistently taken the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any judge serving on Washington's federal trial court, which is handling the more than 800 cases brought so far in the largest prosecution in Justice Department history.
This is Trump's worst nightmare - on trial for the crime of the century before a judge appointed by his nemesis, who just happens to be a black woman from Jamaicia. I betting you could make a Jackson Pollock painting out of all the ketchup on the walls at Mar A Lago right now.
I love Wikipedia. Her article has already been updated.
She is the judge overseeing the criminal trial of former U.S. president Donald J. Trump over the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol attack.
Defense will be the ones dragging their feet, not prosecution or the judge. Lots of witnesses they need to interview that prosecution already did. I wouldn't expect a quick resolution.
For some relevant info from the article, here's a summary of the charges Trump is facing in Washington, D.C., for attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election:
one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States applies to Trump's repeated and widespread efforts to spread false claims about the November 2020 election while knowing they were not true and for allegedly attempting to illegally discount legitimate votes all with the goal of overturning the 2020 election, prosecutors claim in the indictment.
one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding was brought due to the alleged organized planning by Trump and his allies to disrupt the electoral vote's certification in January 2021.
one count of obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding is tied to Trump and his co-defendants' alleged efforts after the November 2020 election until Jan. 7, 2021, to block the official certification proceeding in Congress.
one count of conspiracy against rights refers to Trump and his co-conspirators alleged attempts to "oppress, threaten and intimidate" people in their right to vote in an election.
The charge of "conspiracy against rights" goes back to the Civil War era.
It was passed after the Civil War as a way to stop members of the Ku Klux Klan and other similar organizations from intimidating, harassing and outright terrorizing Black voters especially in the South.
The Deputy White House Counsel reiterated
to Co-Conspirator 4 that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that
if the Defendant remained in office nonetheless, there would be "riots in every major city in the
United States." Co-Conspirator 4 responded, "Well, [Deputy White House Counsel], that's why
there's an Insurrection Act."
.. they were planning to use the Insurrection Act to stomp any resistance to Trump staying in office. Full-on dictatorship-style military coup and mass arrests, or worse. (Not news, but still stunning to see it in writing in an indictment.)
I feel like some of these comments are early celebrations. For these charges and the document charges which will be I'm assuming in federal court, can one dumb asshole on the jury force a mistrial? Does it need to be 12/12?