The criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election are some of the most serious allegations facing him, one law professor told NPR.

  • Arotrios@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    76
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m loving this bit of info:

    In this case, Trump is also facing a serious Washington, D.C., federal judge with years of experience, Tobias said. The case has been assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.

    According to The Associated Press, Chutkan stood out for her tough punishment for Jan. 6 rioters. In at least seven cases examined by the AP, Chutkan imposed harsher penalties than what federal prosecutors sought for those rioters.

    The AP wrote, "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.

    This is Trump’s worst nightmare - on trial for the crime of the century before a judge appointed by his nemesis, who just happens to be a black woman from Jamaicia. I betting you could make a Jackson Pollock painting out of all the ketchup on the walls at Mar A Lago right now.

    • DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      1 year ago

      I love Wikipedia. Her article has already been updated.

      She is the judge overseeing the criminal trial of former U.S. president Donald J. Trump over the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol attack.

    • moistclump@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      I saw someone refer to her appointment on the case as random. How random is the appointment of a judge and who decides or oversees or matches em up?

      • MostlyBirds@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        I don’t know if it varies by district, but yes, federal cases are randomly assigned a judge from that district.

      • roguetrick@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        Defense will be the ones dragging their feet, not prosecution or the judge. Lots of witnesses they need to interview that prosecution already did. I wouldn’t expect a quick resolution.

        • Bibliotectress@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’m worried he’ll be voted president again because people are clearly insane, be found guilty, and then use the “sitting presidents can’t be guilty” memo defense he used last time.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    70
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    For some relevant info from the article, here’s a summary of the charges Trump is facing in Washington, D.C., for attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election:

    • one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States applies to Trump’s repeated and widespread efforts to spread false claims about the November 2020 election while knowing they were not true and for allegedly attempting to illegally discount legitimate votes all with the goal of overturning the 2020 election, prosecutors claim in the indictment.

    • one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding was brought due to the alleged organized planning by Trump and his allies to disrupt the electoral vote’s certification in January 2021.

    • one count of obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding is tied to Trump and his co-defendants’ alleged efforts after the November 2020 election until Jan. 7, 2021, to block the official certification proceeding in Congress.

    • one count of conspiracy against rights refers to Trump and his co-conspirators alleged attempts to “oppress, threaten and intimidate” people in their right to vote in an election.

    The charge of “conspiracy against rights” goes back to the Civil War era.

    It was passed after the Civil War as a way to stop members of the Ku Klux Klan and other similar organizations from intimidating, harassing and outright terrorizing Black voters especially in the South.

  • Arghblarg
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    1 year ago

    Page 30

    The Deputy White House Counsel reiterated to Co-Conspirator 4 that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that if the Defendant remained in office nonetheless, there would be “riots in every major city in the United States.” Co-Conspirator 4 responded, “Well, [Deputy White House Counsel], that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.”

    … they were planning to use the Insurrection Act to stomp any resistance to Trump staying in office. Full-on dictatorship-style military coup and mass arrests, or worse. (Not news, but still stunning to see it in writing in an indictment.)