Tanya Chutkan, judge in Trump’s latest criminal case, is ‘toughest punisher’ of Jan. 6 rioters, once repped Theranos
WASHINGTON — The judge who will oversee former President Donald Trump’s latest criminal case is known for harshly sentencing Jan. 6 rioters and formerly represented the fraudulent blood-testing company Theranos while working at a law firm associated with first son Hunter Biden.
DC federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was randomly selected to oversee Trump’s case, was labeled last year by the Associated Press the “toughest punisher” of rioters charged with offenses related to the 2021 riot.
“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,” the AP wrote in a profile article last year.
“In the four cases in which prosecutors did not seek jail time, Chutkan gave terms ranging from 14 days to 45 days.”
Her record could spell trouble for Trump, 77, as she oversees special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution.
Chutkan jailed — despite prosecutors not 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,” the AP wrote.
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.
Boies Schiller has strong connections to the Democratic Party, and then-second son Hunter Biden — whose dad, President Biden, is likely to face Trump in the 2024 election — was of counsel at the firm from 2009 to 2014, according to OpenSecrets.
It’s unclear if the first son and Chutkan ever interacted while associated with the firm as Hunter courted wealthy figures in countries such as Romania and Ukraine, allegedly cutting side deals that provided greater revenue for himself than would have been the case if he signed them to Boies Schiller.
Among Chutkan’s high-profile cases at Boies Schiller was her representation of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes’ blood-testing company, in litigation against a business enemy who allegedly shared “confidential and proprietary” company information. Chutkan is listed as one of the firm’s lawyers on a DC Superior Court judge’s 2013 order ruling against the company.
Theranos’ technology was exposed as a fraud in 2015 by the Wall Street Journal.
The charges against Trump cannot disqualify him from seeking election in 2024 and there’s a chance that the trial won’t occur until after the results are in. If Trump wins the election, he could pardon himself, either preventing a trial or erasing a conviction.
Trump was indicted Tuesday on four counts related to his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss — 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.
Trump railed that the case was an example of bias in the federal legal system, writing on his Truth Social network, “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!”
Joe Biden also is under investigation by a special counsel, Robert Hur, over his mishandling of classified records found at his Delaware home and personal DC office that dated to his vice presidency and Senate tenure — and Trump allies in Congress are investigating Biden for alleged corruption involving his son.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said last week that congressional Republicans are on a course to launch an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden’s role in his son’s overseas work, noting that Hunter, 53, repeatedly involved his dad in business relationships in countries where he as vice president held sway, including China, Mexico, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
