The federal judge overseeing the 2020 presidential election case against former President Donald Trump raised the point last year that Trump was still “free” after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has overseen a number of cases against Jan. 6 rioters, made the observation while sentencing one of them in October, a revelation that comes as critics raise concerns about perceived bias in Chutkan’s background.
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“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 … It’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day,” Chutkan told defendant Christine Priola, according to court filings.
Chutkan sentenced Priola to 15 months in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding after Priola entered the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 and stood on a cabinet waving a sign that said “We the people take back our country.”
Priola had no criminal background, did not harm anyone or damage any property, and conveyed substantial remorse during the hearing, the court transcript shows.
Chutkan’s sentencing aligned with a guideline range of 15 to 21 months in prison. The maximum sentence for the charge was 20 years in prison, and prosecutors had recommended 18 months.
Chutkan, who admitted she was relatively lenient with Priola, gained a reputation while sentencing dozens of rioters for being “one of the toughest punishers,” as described in an Associated Press report.
Trump has repeatedly called for Chutkan to recuse herself from his case and brought attention on Monday to her remarks on Priola specifically.
“The following TRUTH is a quote by the highly partisan Judge Tanya Chutkan, angrily sentencing a J-6er in October of 2022,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “She obviously wants me behind bars. VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!”
Trump attorney John Lauro tempered Trump’s recusal calls during an interview with David Markus a week ago, saying, “We haven’t made a final decision on that issue at all. I think as lawyers we have to be very careful of those issues and handle them with the utmost delicacy.”
Chutkan, for her part, has warned Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner, about his vocal objections to his prosecution, saying he must adhere to conditions of his pretrial release, which include not intimidating witnesses.
She said at the case’s first hearing last week that she was unconcerned with how such conditions would affect his presidential campaign, noting, “If that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say about witnesses in this case, that’s how it has to be.”
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Trump also shared a statement Sunday on Truth Social from a GOP strategist in which the strategist called Chutkan an “Obama leftwing activist judge” who “openly admitted she’s running election interference against Trump.”
Neal Katyal, the acting solicitor general under President Barack Obama, speculated in a statement online that Trump elevating the remark on his social media may lead to Chutkan calling a hearing to address his Truth Social posts as possible violations of the judicial process.
