Washington [US], September 13: Former US President Donald Trump's bar association wants a new judge for the trial in the US capital, and also requests that some charges related to the trial in Georgia be dropped.
On September 11 (US time), the legal team representing Mr. Trump filed a petition asking federal judge Tanya Chutkan to withdraw from her role as presiding judge in the trial of conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Washington DC (US capital). The bar association also has a new move in the lawsuit in the state of Georgia.
Ask the judge to dismiss the trial
In the petition, Mr. Trump's legal representative said that Judge Chutkan should recuse himself and allow the court clerk to appoint another judge for the trial in the US capital. The defense attorney did not outright accuse Judge Chutkan of being biased against Mr. Trump. However, they said that Ms. Chutkan's statements about their client "created a biased perception that is inconsistent with the US justice system," according to CBS News on September 12.
"In other trials, the judge said that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements were made before the case (in Washington DC was accepted) and did not go through any process." Reasonable self-litigation clearly shows that she is not qualified (to preside over this trial)," the lawyer representing Mr. Trump stated in the petition.
For example, at the October 2022 trial of the Capitol Hill riot case on January 6, 2021, judge Chutkan commented that the defendants were blindly loyal to the person who until then was still "free", only Mr. Trump. During the December 2021 trial of defendant Robert Palmer participating in the riot at the parliament building, Ms. Chutkan said that "the person who manipulated and encouraged and incited him to act (in case 6.1) has not yet been prosecuted," that is Mr. Trump.
Ms. Chutkan is the only person who can make an official ruling on the petition of the bar association representing Mr. Trump. If the judge does not resign, the defense bar association can request an appeal. However, there has never been a successful attempt to remove a judge from the bench in the US, unless the judge recuses himself.
Moves in Georgia
Also on September 11, CNN reported that Mr. Trump 's lawyer association asked the court in Fulton County (Georgia) to dismiss criminal charges in the trial of him and 18 others seeking to overturn the election results in this state in 2020.
According to the indictment of special prosecutor Smith, Mr. Trump faces a total of 13 crimes, including fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and inciting public officials to violate their oath of office. Mr. Trump's legal representative said that the prosecution did not provide enough evidence to make the above accusations.
Previously, Mr. Trump's lawyer association also asked Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the trial in New York state, which was to try Mr. Trump on charges of paying hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. On August 14, judge Merchan rejected the above recommendation. In another development, the defense attorney is also expected to seek to replace the judge in the federal trial in Fulton County.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper