How will Judge Tanya Chutkan respond?
Ten days and a second stern warning later, the toddler threw his spoon again early this morning (Politico):
Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his newest criminal case early Monday, testing her three-day-old warning that he refrain from “inflammatory” attacks against those involved in his case.
In a Truth Social post just before 1 a.m., Trump assailed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan as “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair,” citing as evidence a statement she made during the sentencing of a woman who participated in the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“She obviously wants me behind bars,” Trump wrote.
What followed is in all caps, of course. He’s daring her to do it. The deranged teetotaler is so drunk on himself, he thinks he’s bulletproof.
Trump was alluding to Chutkan’s remark during the October 2022 sentencing of Christine Priola of Ohio. Chutkan admonished Priola, before sentencing her to 15 months in jail, about the Jan. 6 mob’s threat to the peaceful transfer of power.
“I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats that they were wearing, and the garb,” Chutkan said. “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 county and not to the principles of democracy. It’s blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”
A speedier trial?
“Your client’s defense is supposed to happen in this courtroom, not on the internet,” Chutkan told Trump’s attorneys.
During a Friday hearing to consider a protective order requested by special prosecutor Jack Smith, Chutkan warned Trump’s attorneys that if Trump disobeyed her order, she might move up his trial date. Her calculation seems to be that Trump might fear that more than pre-trial detention (jail). And/or that jailing the former president might be impractical. Nevertheless, she warned, “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”
It took Trump just three days to test Chutkan’s resolve. He’s trying to make his trial into another screaming, hair-pulling reality TV show. And another fundraising opportunity, naturally. Chutkan’s options?
Judges confronted with violations of pretrial conditions can impose stricter conditions, like limits on social media use, prohibitions on travel and even pretrial detention. Those conditions would be particularly draconian for a defendant who is also leading his party’s primary for the presidential nomination. Chutkan has vowed not to let his candidacy affect her decision making and to treat him like any other defendant.
Wish her luck. She’ll need it. Plus body armor and a larger security detail.