Judge Tanya Chutkan’s job was to be an impartial mediator in the spurious campaign to destroy Donald Trump. Yet in court the judge spoke like a CNN political host, taking umbrage at the use of the word “censorship” by Trump’s attorney despite how that is what a gag order placed on him is. At one point she reportedly leaned back in her chair and shook her head while Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, was speaking.
When Lauro stated that “President Trump firmly believes that these proceedings are brought by a politically motivated prosecutor,” the judge demanded that Lauro “tone down his language,” as delightfully recounted by CNN. There was no jury present and thus no justification for muzzling an attorney as he argued for his client.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene schooled the judge afterwards about the double standard imposed. Judge Chutkan “said the case isn’t about the court of public opinion, yet she allows the media to sit in her courtroom, the very people who craft public opinion through their headlines and stories,” Rep. Greene pointed out.
Courtrooms in D.C. have become pockets of tyranny where judges seem to care more about the media, as when Judge Royce Lamberth lashed out at Tucker Carlson in a hearing about one of the over-prosecuted January 6 cases. Judge Chutkan infringed not only on Trump’s First Amendment right to speak out, but also on the First Amendment right of every American to hear Trump’s rebuttal of media reporting about his case. Judge Chutkan ignores the clear constitutional right of Americans to learn Trump’s responses to the media’s negative spin about this politically motivated prosecution.
Judge Chutkan declared at one hearing that “this trial will not yield to the election cycle, and we will not revisit the trial date.” With her impertinent comments, the judge has amply demonstrated why she is a poor fit to preside over Trump’s case. The D.C. Circuit urgently requires severe reforms, or it will bring down the reputation of all federal courts even more than it already has.
