Once again, the political world has been engulfed by another indictment of Donald Trump, this time surrounding his alleged actions involving January 6th.
The details include four different counts, including two counts of conspiracy and two counts of obstruction. Those four counts break down specifically to Trump allegedly attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, which has to do with January 6th, while the conspiracy charges appear to center on the supposed alternate electors scheme.
Obviously, arguments about selective prosecution and weaponization of the DOJ will be at the forefront for political circles, but even on legal grounds, this indictment appears to be far weaker than the one charging that Trump mishandled classified documents and conspired to obstruct the investigation into the matter. Specifically, counts two and three sure seem like “disinformation” is being criminalized.
Regardless, putting even the legal arguments aside, one thing is certa in: The judge assigned to this case is going to be a nightmare.
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has handled dozens of cases related to January 6th, and she has built a reputation as being the harshest arbiter in the game. For example, she has given higher sentences than recommended by the government in nine different January 6th cases and has matched government recommendations in 14 others. She has handled 31 January 6th cases in total.
By comparison, around 80 percent of all January 6th defendants have received sentences below government recommendations. In other words, Chutkan gives elevated sentences at a far higher rate than other judges handling similar cases.
That points to a deeply personal and emotional investment by the judge in the events of January 6th. In 2022, the Associated Press even labeled her as the “toughest punisher” relating to how she was handling those specific cases. Chutkan appears to be on a revenge tour as a judge based in the nation’s capital, and there’s every reason to believe jailing Trump would be her ultimate prize.
Also concerning is what circles Chutkan ran in before assuming her position on a U.S. District Court. She once worked for Boies Schiller and Flexner. Take a wild guess who also used to work there?
Once again, the incestuousness of the Beltway is shown. This Obama appointee just so happens to have worked for the same law firm that once gave Hunter Biden a sweetheart employment deal that absolutely no one else would have gotten in the given timeframe. Is that directly relevant to this latest Trump indictment? Not necessarily, but it provides more evidence of the school of thought that Chutkan comes from.
All that to say that there’s no reason to expect fairness in this situation. Chutkan is credibly expected to be on the warpath, and Trump’s legal team is going to have its work cut out for it. In the end, the only hope may be getting this in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. How that happens and how long that could take is an open-ended question.
For now, though, Chutkan is in charge, and I would count on her trying to fast-track this trial before the general election. If she’s as biased as it seems, and there’s every reason to think she is, she won’t want to risk Trump winning the election and having the power to pardon himself.