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The judge assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters

The judge assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters
Good evening today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. The indictment was issued by *** grand jury of citizens here in the district of Columbia and it sets forth the crimes charged in detail. I encourage everyone to read it in full. The attack on our nation's capital on January 6th 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment. It was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing *** bedrock function of the US government. The nation's process of collecting counting and certifying the results of the presidential election. The men and women of law enforcement who defended the US Capitol on January 6th are heroes. They are patriots and they are the very best of us. They did not just defend *** building or the people sheltering in it. They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as *** country and as *** people, they defended the very institutions and principles that define the United States. Since the attack on our capital, the Department of Justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day. This case is brought consistent with that commitment and our investigation of other individuals continues. In this case, my office will seek *** speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by *** jury of citizens. In the meantime, I must emphasize that the indictment is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Beyond *** reasonable doubt in *** court of law, I would like to thank the members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who are working on this investigation with my office as well as the many career prosecutors and law enforcement agents from around the country who have worked on previous January 6th investigations. These women and men are public servants of the very highest order and it is *** privilege to work alongside them. Thank you.
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The judge assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters
The federal judge assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack fueled by Trump's baseless claims of a stolen election. She has also ruled against him before.U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, will oversee the case accusing Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the two months leading up to the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.Chutkan has often has handed down prison sentences in Jan. 6, 2021, riot cases that are harsher than Justice Department prosecutors recommended.Chutkan has also ruled against Trump before in a separate Jan. 6 case. In November 2021, she refused his request to block the release of documents to the U.S. House's Jan. 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.She rejected his arguments that he could hold privilege over documents from his administration even after President Joe Biden had cleared the way for the National Archives to turn the papers over. She wrote that Trump could not claim his privilege "exists in perpetuity."In a memorable line from her ruling, Chutkan wrote, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."Trump will make his first court appearance on Thursday before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya. Such judges handle initial matters in federal cases.Chutkan has sentenced at least 38 people convicted of Capitol riot-related crimes. All 38 received prison terms, ranging from 10 days to over five years, according to an Associated Press analysis of court records.She is one of two dozen judges in Washington, D.C., who collectively have sentenced nearly 600 defendants for their roles in the Jan. 6 siege. More than one third of them avoided sentences that included incarceration.Other judges typically have handed down sentences that are more lenient than those requested by prosecutors. Chutkan, however, has matched or exceeded prosecutors' recommendations in 19 of her 38 sentences. In four of those cases, prosecutors weren't seeking any jail time at all.Chutkan has said prison can be a powerful deterrent against the threat of another insurrection."Every day we're hearing about reports of anti-democratic factions of people plotting violence, the potential threat of violence, in 2024," she said in December 2021 before sentencing a Florida man who attacked police officers to more than five years behind bars. At the time, that sentence was the longest for a Jan. 6 case."It has to be made clear that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power and assaulting law enforcement officers in that effort is going to be met with absolutely certain punishment," she said.Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee, suggested during a hearing in 2021 that the Justice Department was being too hard on those who broke into the Capitol compared with the people arrested during racial injustice protests following George Floyd's 2020 murder.Without naming her colleague, Chutkan criticized McFadden's suggestion days later."People gathered all over the country last year to protest the violent murder by the police of an unarmed man. Some of those protesters became violent," Chutkan said during an October 2021 hearing."But to compare the actions of people protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights, to those of a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and ignores a very real danger that the Jan. 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy."___Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.

The federal judge assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack fueled by Trump's baseless claims of a stolen election. She has also ruled against him before.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, will oversee the case accusing Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the two months leading up to the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

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Chutkan has often has handed down prison sentences in Jan. 6, 2021, riot cases that are harsher than Justice Department prosecutors recommended.

Chutkan has also ruled against Trump before in a separate Jan. 6 case. In November 2021, she refused his request to block the release of documents to the U.S. House's Jan. 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.

She rejected his arguments that he could hold privilege over documents from his administration even after President Joe Biden had cleared the way for the National Archives to turn the papers over. She wrote that Trump could not claim his privilege "exists in perpetuity."

In a memorable line from her ruling, Chutkan wrote, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."

This undated photo provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, shows U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Chutkan is initially assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump. (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP)
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP
This undated photo provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, shows U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Chutkan is initially assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump. (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP)

Trump will make his first court appearance on Thursday before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya. Such judges handle initial matters in federal cases.

Chutkan has sentenced at least 38 people convicted of Capitol riot-related crimes. All 38 received prison terms, ranging from 10 days to over five years, according to an Associated Press analysis of court records.

She is one of two dozen judges in Washington, D.C., who collectively have sentenced nearly 600 defendants for their roles in the Jan. 6 siege. More than one third of them avoided sentences that included incarceration.

Other judges typically have handed down sentences that are more lenient than those requested by prosecutors. Chutkan, however, has matched or exceeded prosecutors' recommendations in 19 of her 38 sentences. In four of those cases, prosecutors weren't seeking any jail time at all.

Chutkan has said prison can be a powerful deterrent against the threat of another insurrection.

"Every day we're hearing about reports of anti-democratic factions of people plotting violence, the potential threat of violence, in 2024," she said in December 2021 before sentencing a Florida man who attacked police officers to more than five years behind bars. At the time, that sentence was the longest for a Jan. 6 case.

"It has to be made clear that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power and assaulting law enforcement officers in that effort is going to be met with absolutely certain punishment," she said.

Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee, suggested during a hearing in 2021 that the Justice Department was being too hard on those who broke into the Capitol compared with the people arrested during racial injustice protests following George Floyd's 2020 murder.

Without naming her colleague, Chutkan criticized McFadden's suggestion days later.

"People gathered all over the country last year to protest the violent murder by the police of an unarmed man. Some of those protesters became violent," Chutkan said during an October 2021 hearing.

"But to compare the actions of people protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights, to those of a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and ignores a very real danger that the Jan. 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy."

___

Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.