On 1 August, former president Donald Trump was hit with his third criminal indictment charging him over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the subsequent January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Following an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, a grand jury in Washington DC charged him with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights and obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
This is the second federal indictment filed against Mr Trump and the third indictment he’s received this year.
Washington DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan has been assigned the case, according to the court docket. Mr Trump will appear before her at a later date which will be determined after his arraignment.
Judge Chutkan is an appointee of former President Barack Obama and was first appointed to the US District Court for the District of Columbia in June 2014.
Here’s everything you need to know about the judge currently assigned to Mr Trump’s case.
Who is Judge Tanya Chutkan?
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Judge Chutkan received her BA in Economics from George Washington University and her Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was an Associate Editor of the Law Review and a Legal Writing Fellow, according to her DC District Court biography.
After law school, Judge Chutkan worked in private practice for three years, before she then joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service (PDS), where she worked as a trial attorney and supervisor.
According to her biography, during Judge Chutkan’s time working at PDS, she argued “several appellate cases and tried over 30 cases, including numerous serious felony matters”.
Eleven years later, Judge Chutkan left the Public Defender Service and joined the law firm Boies, Schiller, & Flexner LLP, where she worked for 12 years and specialised in white-collar criminal defence.
As a district judge, she has become known as one of the toughest judges in the prosecution of January 6 Capitol rioters.
Judge Chutkan has been assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump— (AP)
One case which caught everyone’s attention was that of an Ohio couple, Brandon Miller and Stephanie Miller, who climbed through a broken window of the US Capitol and live-streamed a video of themselves inside the building.
At the time, the prosecutor asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sentence them to home confinement as a part of a 36-month probationary period.
Judge Chutkan disagreed with the prosecution’s request and instead sentenced Mr Miller to 20 days in Jail and Ms Miller to 14 days in jail in December 2021.
At the time, Judge Chutkan said: “They didn’t just walk through a door. They climbed through a broken window … they knew full well of the violence that had preceded their entry.
“The fact is that they were part of a mob … that was intent on stopping the lawful transfer of power.”
In total, she has already sentenced at least 38 people convicted of Capitol riot-related crimes – and has handed down harsh punishments in these cases.
Matt Mazzocco – a Texas mortgage broker who posed for a selfie in front of rioters breaching the building – was sentenced to 45 days in jail with an additional 60 hours of community service in October 2021.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the US Capitol in Washington on Jan 6 2021— ((AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana))
Prosecutors had initially recommended three months under home confinement and probation, but Judge Chutkan described the recommended sentence as too lenient.
“If Mr Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that’s not going to deter anyone trying what he did again. It does not, in this Court’s opinion, indicate the severity – the gravity of the offences that he committed on January 6,” she said.
Judge Chutkan V Trump
Judge Chutkan has also had previous dealings with Mr Trump.
In November 2021, Mr Trump filed a lawsuit in the hopes of blocking the National Archives from handing over documents related to the January 6 riots to the House select committee investigating the attack.
Judge Chutkan rejected Mr Trump’s request and said: “While broad, these requests, and each of the other requests made by the Committee, do not exceed the Committee’s legislative powers.”
She said that Mr Trump had not acknowledged “the deference owed to” President Joe Biden’s determination that the committee could access the materials.
Donald Trump gives speech on January 6 2021— (AP)
“His (Mr Trump’s) position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power ‘exists in perpetuity,’” Judge Chutkan said. But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”
An Associated Press analysis of court records shows Judge Chutkan has sentenced at least 38 people convicted of Capitol riot-related crimes.
She is one of two dozen judges in Washington DC who have collectively sentenced almost 600 defendants so far for their roles in the riot.
Additonal reporting from agencies.
