Donald Trump Reacts To His Jan 6th Indictment On Truth Social
On his Truth Social platform, Trump posted in all-caps that he has garnered "unprecedented" support after the latest federal charges were brought against him.
He declared that these charges have made the world more aware of the corruption, scandals, and failures that have transpired in the United States in the past three years.
Furthermore, he claimed polls are indicating he is the clear frontrunner in national opinion polls for the Republican nomination and the general election in 2024.
"THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! I HAVE NEVER HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT ON ANYTHING BEFORE," Trump wrote.
He continued: THIS UNPRECEDENTED INDICTMENT OF A FORMER (HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL!) PRESIDENT, & THE LEADING CANDIDATE, BY FAR, IN BOTH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, HAS AWOKEN THE WORLD TO THE CORRUPTION, SCANDAL, & FAILURE THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS."
He went on: "AMERICA IS A NATION IN DECLINE, BUT WE WILL MAKE IT GREAT AGAIN, GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!"
On August 6th, Trump took to Truth Social again and proclaimed he would request that the federal judge in charge of the case regarding his endeavor to overturn the 2020 presidential election recuse herself and ask for a relocation of the trial.
D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by former President Barack Obama and approved by the Senate with a unanimous 95-0 vote, has delivered some of the harshest sentences yet to Jan. 6 defendants.
Nevertheless, she has stayed away from the pointed criticisms of Donald Trump expressed by her colleagues in D.C. in sentencing those involved in the Capitol attack. She was assigned the case randomly.
Trump previously argued on Truth Social that a fair trial was "impossible" in D.C. and proposed moving it to the "politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia!" In the post, he portrayed D.C. as "over 95% anti-Trump," an apparent reference to the 2020 election outcome in D.C., which saw Biden receive 92% of the vote to Trump’s 4%.
Trump's reasoning has been repudiated by the federal judges in D.C. handling other politically sensitive cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Many Jan. 6 defendants have tried to have their cases heard elsewhere, insisting that D.C.'s "liberal orientation" would prevent them from obtaining a fair trial given their virtually unanimous backing of Trump.
However, the judges have declared that it is implausible to presume twelve impartial jurors could not be identified in a city as big and diverse as D.C.
They have further argued that jurors will be rigorously questioned by the lawyers and judge to establish if they have an impermissible prejudice or are unwilling to assess the case on facts and evidence, regardless of political beliefs.
In their opinion, only after this 'voir dire' process, if a fair jury still looks unfeasible, would a request to transfer the case to another place be considered.
Therefore, it is improbable that Chutkan would transfer the venue prior to voir dire. Moreover, Trump's demand for recusal has little chance of success.
Chutkan has not shown any intention to withdraw and there is no evidence of a potential conflict which could warrant recusal. In the past, she has rejected Trump's efforts to protect his White House papers from the Jan. 6 select committee, but she has not expressed her opinion on his innocence or guilt for any of the charges against him.
It is unclear what other reasons Trump might provide to call for her recusal.