The judge slated to oversee former President Donald Trump's latest criminal case was once called the "toughest punisher" of Jan. 6 rioters and formerly represented fraudulent Democrat-run blood-testing company Theranos while working at a firm associated with the first son, Hunter Biden, according to the NY Post.
In short, Trump couldn't have gotten a worse pick than DC federal Judge Tanya Chutkan.
"Chutkan has handed out tougher sentences than the [Justice 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," AP wrote of her last year.
"In the four cases in which prosecutors did not seek jail time, Chutkan gave terms ranging from 14 days to 45 days."
In one such case, Chutkan jailed - despite prosecutors never asking her to do so - "an Ohio couple [who] climbed through a broken window of the U.S. Capitol and livestreamed a video of themselves inside[, a] Texas mortgage broker [who] posed for a selfie in front of rioters breaching the building [and an] Indiana hair salon owner celebrated on Facebook a day after she joined the pro-Donald Trump mob," according to AP.
The 61-year-old judge was nominated by President Barack Obama and was technically confirmed by the Senate without opposition after a more contentious 54-40 cloture vote.
Chutkan was born in Jamaica and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s law school. She is married to former DC Superior Court Judge Peter Krauthamer.
Her resume includes a previous job likely to attract significant attention from Trump allies. She worked at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner from 2002 until she was confirmed as a federal judge in 2014, according to a biography she submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. -NY Post
Boies Schiller is known as a Democrat law firm, and notably had Hunter Biden as 'of counsel' at the firm from 2009 to 2014, according to OpenSecrets. Among her high profile cases while working there were Theranos, the blood-testing scam company run by Elizabeth Holmes. Chutkan helped Theranos sue a business enemy who allegedly shared "confidential and proprietary" information.
Trump was indicted on Tuesday on four counts related to his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss, as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Trump, who polls indicate is neck-and-neck against Biden, 80, also faces federal charges in Miami for allegedly mishandling classified records and state charges in New York related to 2016 hush money payments. He may also be charged locally in Georgia for his efforts to reverse his narrow 2020 defeat in that state. -NY Post
Following his latest indictment, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "“Why didn’t they bring this ridiculous case 2.5 years ago? They wanted it right in the middle of my campaign, that’s why!"
Chutkan is also overseeing special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution.
