'Toughest punisher': Obama-appointed judge will oversee Trump's Jan. 6 case

Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee known for being tough on Jan. 6 defendants, has been assigned to preside over Donald Trump’s indictment.

Trump was indicted Tuesday on four felony counts over allegations he tried to overturn the 2020 election. The former president is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.

Chutkan has established a reputation for her handling of cases involving the 2020 election and the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

She was featured in an Associated Press report published under the headline “In Jan. 6 cases, 1 judge stands out as the toughest punisher.”

The AP reports that, “Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has consistently taken the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any judge serving on Washington’s federal trial court, which is handling the more than 800 cases brought so far in the largest prosecution in Justice Department history.”

The report notes that, “Chutkan has handed out tougher sentences than the department was seeking in seven cases, matched its requests in four others and sent all 11 riot defendants who have come before her behind bars. In the four cases in which prosecutors did not seek jail time, Chutkan gave terms ranging from 14 days to 45 days.”

She also has a history with Trump.

In 2021, she ruled against the former president’s attempt to thwart the release of documents sought by the House Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, shooting down Trump’s argument that his executive authority “exists in perpetuity.”

Chutkan, in a 39-page opinion, wrote that, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Chutkan has already received high marks from legal expert Harry Litman, who wrote on his social media account that the judge is a “very good draw. solid well respected. first DC superior court then Obama put her on district court.”