Trump targets DC judge in 2020 election case
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[August 07, 2023]
By Susan Heavey and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Sunday targeted the federal judge
assigned to the case charging him with seeking to overturn the 2020
presidential election, as his lawyer argued that actions Trump took
after his loss were just "asks."
Trump, in a social media post," said: "THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR
TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE 'ASSIGNED,'" adding that he planned to seek U.S.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan's recusal as well as a change of venue
outside of Washington.
No formal request was filed with the court as of midday on Sunday. The
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination,
last week was indicted for a third time. He pleaded not guilty to
federal charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. by preventing
Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's victory,
depriving U.S. voters of their right to a fair election.
Trump faces a 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) Monday deadline to respond to the U.S.
government's proposed protective order aimed at protecting witnesses and
evidence in the case after Chutkan denied his bid for a delay.
Trump's lawyer John Lauro, in a round of television interviews on
Sunday, defended the former president's actions in the wake of his 2020
election loss as petitions but not directives, and criticized the
protective order.
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"Every single thing that President Trump is being prosecuted for
involved aspirational asks - asking state legislatures, asking state
governors, asking state electoral officials to do the right thing. In
fact, even asking Vice President Pence was protected by free speech,"
Lauro told Fox News.
In response, the former vice president, Mike Pence, who is also seeking
the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, told CNN on Sunday:
"President Trump was wrong then and he is wrong now. I had no right to
overturn the election result."
Pence, threatened by Trump's supporters Jan. 6, 2021, as he oversaw
Congress' certification of Biden's victory, has become a central figure
in the case and has not ruled out becoming a witness against his former
boss.
"They’re throwing everything they can at the wall and they’re trying to
see what sticks," Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House
Democratic Caucus, told ABC News' "This Week" program.
Lauro also refused to back a protective order sought by the Department
of Justice, saying it would prevent the public and the media from
hearing relevant material as case proceeds.
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![](../images/080723PIX/news_q45.jpg)
Former U.S. President and Republican
candidate Donald Trump makes a keynote speech at a Republican
fundraising dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. August 5, 2023.
REUTERS/Sam Wolfe
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"We will not agree to keep information that is not sensitive from
the press," Lauro told CNN.
Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday sought the order prohibiting
Trump and his lawyers from sharing discovery materials with
unauthorized people, citing a Trump social media post that he said
raised concerns.
TRUMP CHARGES PILE UP
Smith, in the 45-page indictment last week, acknowledged Trump's
First Amendment right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution but
charged him with four counts over actions he took, including
conspiracy to defraud the U.S., to deprive citizens of their voting
rights, and to obstruct an official proceeding.
Trump, under oath at his arraignment last week, swore not to
intimidate witnesses or communicate with them without legal counsel
present.
Smith's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on Lauro's remarks.
However, Smith told the court over the weekend that Trump's team was
causing unnecessary delays: "The defendant is standing in the way."
Trump, 77, has also pleaded not guilty to separate charges by Smith
over his handling of classified documents, including top secret
materials, after he left office in January 2021.
He also pleaded not guilty to New York state charges in Manhattan
that he falsified business records to hide hush money payments to a
porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump faces a possible fourth criminal indictment this year in
Georgia, where state prosecutors are investigating Trump's efforts
to overturn his election loss in that state.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated she plans
to bring charges in that investigation within weeks, and authorities
in Atlanta have tightened security around the county courthouse in
preparation for possible charges.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Kanishka Singh and Leah Douglas; Editing
by Heather Timmons, Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)
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