Judge in Trump's Jan 6 case gave thousands to Obama, is 'relentlessly hostile' to Trump

Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was appointed on Tuesday to handle former president Donald Trump's trial for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election, reportedly donated thousands of dollars to former President Barack Obama's campaign. 

According to the Washington Examiner, Chutkan was appointed to the US District Court by President Obama in 2014 after donating around $4,300 to his campaign and victory fund between the 2008 and 2012 elections. 

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) noted on his podcast, "The Verdict with Ted Cruz," that Chutkan has a “reputation for being far left, even by DC District Court standards.” He pointed to her record of handling cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the capital by Trump supporters upset about the results of the election

In the at least 38 January 6 cases Chutkan has tried, each case concluded with convictions, and in 19 of them, her sentence matched or went beyond the recommendation of the Department of Justice. In four cases, she handed out jail time when no jail time was recommended by the DOJ. 

Cruz said, "So in terms of the judge, we can anticipate a judge who is going to be relentlessly hostile to Donald Trump, who is going to bend over backwards for the Biden [Department of Justice] and who is going to make ruling after ruling after ruling against Trump."

Former President Trump was indicted Tuesday by Special Counsel Jack Smith on four charges stemming from the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6. He was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and have one's vote counted. 

During his show, Cruz said that there is an “exceptionally high” chance Trump is convicted if the trial takes place in Washington DC because "they are not Donald Trump supporters" there. “The likelihood that a DC jury will vote to convict Donald Trump is exceptionally high, and the facts don’t matter. The laws don’t matter. They hate him. That’s a big part of the reason why the Biden DOJ wants to bring this case in DC, which means with a far-left judge and a far-left jury, there is a very real possibility that Donald Trump ends up being convicted," he said. 

"And what is dangerous about this particular indictment with a judge and a jury that are likely to be stacked against Donald Trump, and in fact, loathe Donald Trump, that is a very dangerous scenario that is, I think exceptionally bad,” he added. 

This is the third indictment against former President Trump. The first is a case in New York on charges of allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels through his attorney. The second is a federal case out of Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents.