Trump moves to recuse Judge Chutkan
In a court filing on Monday, former president Donald Trump moved to recuse federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election subversion case, citing her previous comments about his culpability.
“Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,” the motion for recusal reads. “Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying.”
The filing includes a reference to a statement Chutkan made during cases in 2022 before the special counsel issued findings:
This was nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government by individuals who were mad that their guy lost. I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats they were wearing and the garb. And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man – not to the constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. It’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”
“Fairness and impartiality are the central tenets of our criminal justice system,” Trump’s legal team wrote in the filing. “Both a defendant and the public are entitled to a full hearing, on all relevant issues, by a Court that has not prejudged the guilt of the defendant, and whose neutrality cannot be reasonably questioned.”
Key events
Today so far
Thank you for reading along with us during this busy news day. You can read more about Trump’s recusal filing from The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell here.
Here’s a rundown of what else we have covered:
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The FDA authorized updated Covid-19 vaccines that closely match the Omicron variants that are circulating, starting the process to deploy the shots this month.
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Several people were arrested after entering the office of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, during a protest for HIV/Aids funding on Monday.
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The Biden administration is close to approving the shipment of longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine.
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Five American prisoners being detained in Iran could soon be freed, thanks to a new deal the countries reached today. In exchange for the 5 US citizens, 5 Iranians held in the US will be released and the US will allow the transfer of $6bn in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar without sanctions.
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President Biden marked the anniversary of 9/11 by speaking to service members, first responders, and their families in Anchorage, Alaska. Biden used the speech to highlight the battles the country is still fighting – deep-seated divisions that continue to threaten its future.
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In a court filing on Monday, former president Donald Trump moved to recuse federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election subversion case, citing her previous comments about his culpability.
Chutkan is a highly respected federal judge, appointed by Obama and confirmed in 95-0 vote by the Senate in 2014. She also has been harsher than her colleagues in handing down sentences for rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6.
As of July this year, all 38 defendants who came before her were given prison sentences, NPR reports, including 4 who weren’t recommended for prison by prosecutors.
NPR reports:
Chutkan has handed down tougher prison sentences than the government asked for in nearly 25% of her Jan. 6 cases. That is a notably higher rate than nearly all other judges handling these cases.
“She was definitely on the high end of the range of those people,” said Bob Driscoll, a defense attorney at the McGlinchey Stafford firm in Washington. “She was, in fact, still might be the only — if she’s not the only she’s one of the only — judges that has several times gone above the recommendation made by the government.”
With the trial date set for March 4, this case will be the first Trump will face against prosecutors and the special counsel Jack Smith – just as voters go to the polls for the primaries.
Analysts believe the interesting timing of Trump’s somewhat unsurprising attempt to get Chukan off the case came down to his frustration over scheduling.
Chukan set the date for the trial – which will examine the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election – to start on March 4. The start falls the day before Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states will hold primaries.
Trump, who is attempting to retake the White House in 2024, pushed for a more than 2-year delay, asking for the trial to be held until April 2026. Chutkan rejected the request (opting for one about a month later than prosecutors initially argued for) and said Trump’s legal time would have plenty of time to prepare.
“Setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal and professional obligations,” Chutkan said.
Analysts and experts are beginning to weigh in on the filing for recusal, highlighting the high unlikelihood that it will work.
“Judge Chutkan‘s statements were made at January 6 sentencings, based on evidence in those proceedings,” lawyer Max Kennerly said in a social media post. “The defendants argued they were following Trump’s instructions, so Judge Chutkan addressed that. Thus, Liteky v US applies, and the bar for recusal is nearly insurmountable.”
Adam Klasfeld, a senior legal correspondent at the Messenger, highlighted how Trump has long-been critical of Chutkan, even though her rulings tend to align with Judge Aileen Cannon – who he appointed – and whose rulings he favors. Still, as Klasfeld highlights in a recent analysis, rebuking Chutkan will not likely help the former president.
“I think that is to their great peril,” former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner told Klasfeld, noting that treating the two judges differently was a poor legal strategy.
Keith Boykin, a national political commentator and author who served as a White House aide to President Bill Clinton framed the call as a more sinister tactic to discredit Chutkan.
“Trump trying to get Judge Tanya Chutkan to recuse herself is textbook Trump trying to smear a Black woman,” Boykin said in a post. “Judge Chutkan didn’t indict Trump. A grand jury did. Judge Chutkan didn’t bring the case. Jack Smith did. And Judge Chutkan won’t decide his fate. A jury of his peers will.”
Though the filing only surfaced Monday, conservative calls for Chutkan to step down have been mounting in recent weeks. Republican congressman and Trump-loyalist Matt Gaetz filed a resolution to condemn and censure the federal judge for her comments in recent weeks.
Just last night, Mark Levin, a conservative pundit and Fox News show host, took aim at Judge Chutkan on his program.
Making the case that she is “unqualified” to preside over the case against Trump, Levin cited an investigation on Real Clear Politics, a right-leaning website largely funded by pro-Trump conservatives, that outlines many of the arguments used by the former president’s legal team to call for Chutkan’s recusal.
But for all the crying-foul coming from conservatives, it will be difficult for the Trump legal team to succeed in getting her off the case. As New York University professor of law Stephen Gillers told Real Clear Politics: “Almost never will a judge be recused for opinions she forms as a judge – in hearing cases and motions. Judges are expected to form opinions based on these ‘intrajudicial’ sources. It’s what judges do.”
Ultimately, Chutkan will be the one to rule on whether she is too biased to preside over the case. If she denies the recusal, Trump’s lawyers could petition an appeals court, but it’s still a long shot.
This also isn’t the first time Trump has tried to get a new judge. He previously failed to get a new judge to preside over his New York State court case and also attempted to get the case moved to federal court.
Trump has challenged the judge or jurisdiction in three of his four criminal cases this year, CBS News reports, excluding only Aileen Cannon – presiding over the 40 felony counts charged for “willful retention of national security information” – who he appointed.
Trump moves to recuse Judge Chutkan
In a court filing on Monday, former president Donald Trump moved to recuse federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election subversion case, citing her previous comments about his culpability.
“Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,” the motion for recusal reads. “Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying.”
The filing includes a reference to a statement Chutkan made during cases in 2022 before the special counsel issued findings:
This was nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government by individuals who were mad that their guy lost. I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats they were wearing and the garb. And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man – not to the constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. It’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”
“Fairness and impartiality are the central tenets of our criminal justice system,” Trump’s legal team wrote in the filing. “Both a defendant and the public are entitled to a full hearing, on all relevant issues, by a Court that has not prejudged the guilt of the defendant, and whose neutrality cannot be reasonably questioned.”
Biden urges unity in his speech for 9/11
President Biden marked the anniversary of 9/11 by speaking to service members, first responders, and their families in Anchorage, Alaska.
Standing before an enormous American flag the president recounted memories of that tragic day while championing the acts of patriotism and courage performed in response.
“Those terrorists could never touch the soul of America,” the President said resolutely. “Heroes, like all of you,” he added, “never faltered to defend our nation, our people an dour values in times of trial”.
He used the speech to tell the gathered troops that his administration is working to ensure broader support for service members when they return home. Outlining the ways in which the US has fought terrorist foes over the last two decades, and noting that Osama Bin Laden was sent “to the gates of hell,” Biden turned toward the battles the country is still fighting – the deep-seated divisions that continue to threaten its future.
To drive home the point, the President ended with an anecdote about his late friend, Senator John McCain.
“John and I were friends. Like a lot of us we had differences,” he said, adding that the two, “disagreed like hell,” on the Senate floor but would always find time to lunch afterward.
On their last meeting, Biden shared, McCain pulled him close, said he loved him, and asked Biden to perform his eulogy.
“He put duty to country first,” Biden said. “Above party, above politics, above his own person.” The president invoked the American people, including the military members in attendance, to reflect on that during this day of remembrance.
“We must never lose that sense of national unity,” he said. “Let that be the common cause of our time.”
The US has reached a deal with Iran to swap prisoners
Five American prisoners being detained in Iran could soon be freed, thanks to a new deal the countries reached today. In exchange for the 5 US citizens, 5 Iranians held in the US will be released and the US will allow the transfer of $6bn in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar without sanctions, the Associated Press reports.
Congress was notified of the deal today, after it was signed off by the Biden Administration late last week. AP reports that significant sum cleared for use by Iran was a key aspect to the deal, encouraging foreign banks to perform the transfer intended to be used to purchase humanitarian supplies. The cnetral bank of Qatar will hold the funds, which will be controlled by Qatar’s government, to ensure its use is dedicated to aid, including medicine and food for the people of Iran.
The American prisoners have also been transferred out of Iranian jails and are now in house arrest.
The deal is the result of more than two years of negotiations between the two countries, according to the The New York Times, which reported on the tentative agreement in August.
“This is just the beginning of a process that I hope and expect will lead to their return home to the United States,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told reporters at the time. “There’s more work to be done to actually bring them home. My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare.”
US close to approving long-range missiles armed with cluster bombs for Ukraine – report
The Biden administration is close to approving the shipment of longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine, Reuters is reporting, citing four US officials.
The US is considering shipping either or both Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 190 miles (306 km), or Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles with a 45-mile range packed with cluster bombs, the report says.
If approved, either option would be available for rapid shipment to Kyiv, giving Ukraine the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory.
The decision to send ATACMS or GMLRS, or both, is not final and could still fall through, according to the sources.
Adam Gabbatt
The US has approved a series of Covid-19 booster vaccines amid rising cases of coronavirus around the country, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA said it had approved Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, which can be administered even to people who never previously received a Covid-19 vaccination.
As with earlier vaccinations, the new round of shots are cleared for adults and children as young as age 6 months.
Starting at age five, most people can get a single dose even if they have never had a prior Covid-19 shot, per the FDA. Younger children might need additional doses depending on their history of Covid-19 infections and vaccinations.
Hospitalizations from Covid-19 have crept up in recent weeks, although the rise is lower than the same time last year. In the week ending 26 August just over 17,400 people were hospitalized from Covid-19, NBC reported, up 16% from the week before.
In August, two hospitals in New York state re-introduced mandatory masking after an increase in Covid-19 cases, while the Lionsgate film studio reinstated a mask mandate for half its employees in its flagship Los Angeles offices.
That same month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it had discovered a new Covid-19 variant and warned high-risk individuals to resume wearing masks.
The variant, BA 2.86, was detected during monitoring of wastewater, the CDC said. It said it was too soon to tell if BA 2.86 could lead to more severe illness than other variants, but reported “reassuring” results of early research which showed that existing antibodies work against the BA 2.86 variant.
Donald Trump urged supporters they need to “fight like hell” or risk losing their country during a speech at a South Dakota rally in which the former president used language resonant of the run-up to the January 6 US Capitol attack, according to a CNN report.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a darkness around our nation like there is now,” Trump said on Friday, as he accused Democrats of allowing an “invasion” of migrants over the southern border and of trying to restart Covid “hysteria”, the report says.
The Republican front-runner’s stark speech raised the prospect of a second presidency that would be even more extreme and challenging to the rule of law than his first. His view that the Oval Office confers unfettered powers suggests Trump would indulge in similar conduct as that for which he is awaiting trial, including intimidating local officials in an alleged bid to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Here are some images from the news wires of how the US has been marking the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, which took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
Mary Yang
Several people were arrested after entering the office of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, during a protest for HIV/Aids funding on Monday.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), a widely bipartisan program, has since been reauthorized three times, and Joe Biden earlier this year indicated that he would work with Congress to extend it a fourth.
But the program’s latest extension has been caught up in a partisan fight over abortion and is under threat amid Congress’s negotiations over a government shutdown.
Some Republicans are opposing Pepfar’s reauthorization, arguing that current restrictions do not sufficiently prevent the funds from being used to support abortions, according to an August report by the Federation of American Scientists.
New Jersey Republican Representative Chris Smith, who chairs the House foreign affairs subcommittee, in a letter to colleagues in June:
Any multi-year PEPFAR reauthorizing legislation must ensure that Biden’s hijacking of PEPFAR to promote abortion be halted.
The program was first established in 2003 by President George W Bush to prevent and treat HIV/Aids in developing countries worldwide, and it is overseen by the US Department of State.
About 20 million people depend on the program globally, according to a White House statement in January.
Smith was a co-sponsor of the 2018 bill extending Pepfar for five years but is now seeking to block its renewal after Biden in 2021 lifted Trump-era restrictions that barred Pepfar and other global programs receiving US funding from performing or promoting abortions.