Donald Trump tested a federal judge's boundaries by issuing a late-night attack drawn from a quote that circulated over the weekend on right-wing media websites.
The former president lashed out at U.S. District Court judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over his case in the District of Columbia, and claimed she had already determined he belonged "behind bars" by citing her comments during the sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter last year.
"The following TRUTH is a quote by highly partisan Judge Tanya Chutkan, angrily sentencing a J-6er in October of 2022," Trump posted early Monday morning on Truth Social. "She obviously wants me behind bars. VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!"
About 20 minutes earlier, Trump had posted Chutkan's comments during the October 2022 sentencing of Christine Priola, a former school therapist in Cleveland, Ohio, who got 15 months in jail after pleading guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding.
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“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.”
Chutkan earned a reputation as a tough punisher in the Jan. 6-related cases that came before her, but her comments during Priola's sentencing were far milder than judges in other cases involving Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.
“People … were told lies, told falsehoods, told our election was stolen when it clearly was not,” said U.S. District Court judge Amit Mehta said during the November 2021 sentencing of John Lolos. “We’re here today deciding whether Mr. Lolos should spend 30 days in jail when those who created the conditions that led to Mr. Lolos’ conduct, led to the events of Jan. 6 [haven’t been] held to account for their actions and their word.”
Other judges involved in those cases pointed to Trump's role in inciting the mob of supporters who tried to block the certification of President Joe Biden's election win by promoting false claims about his election loss.
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“It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man — who knows full well that he lost — instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert,” said U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson during the sentencing in another riot case.
