Washington D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by Obama, has rejected President Donald Trump’s request to obtain alleged “missing” records from the Jan. 6 House Select Committee led by Democrats. Trump’s legal team filed a motion in October seeking court permission to issue subpoenas for materials and records from the disbanded committee. However, Judge Chutkan accused Trump of lacking “good faith” and attempting a “fishing expedition,” marking another legal setback for Trump’s defense.
Chutkan is overseeing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s criminal prosecution of Trump related to his alleged efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. The defense aimed to access documented evidence about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, crucial to Smith’s case. Despite claims that the prior Democrat-led committee failed to preserve or turn over all materials, Chutkan denied Trump’s motion to issue subpoenas against various entities, citing failure to meet legal burdens.
“He has not sufficiently justified his requests for either the ‘Missing Materials’ themselves or the other five categories of documents related to them.”
At another point, the judge said, “Defendant does not state with any specificity the information that he seeks in those records, repeating only that it is important and related to the events and people associated with the Select Committee’s work and therefore the January 6, 2021 attack.”
“The broad scope of the records that Defendant seeks, and his vague description of their potential relevance, resemble less ‘a good faith effort to obtain identified evidence’ than they do ‘a general ‘fishing expedition’ that attempts to use the [Rule 17(c) subpoena] as a discovery device,’” Chutkan added in the denial.
Breitbart highlighted that despite Chairman Loudermilk’s vocal complaints about “missing materials” in connection with the House Jan. 6 Committee’s investigation, Trump’s request was denied by the court. Former Chairman Thompson also admitted that not all materials compiled by the former committee were archived or retained, including crucial videos, transcripts, and numerous other documents that could have been beneficial to Trump’s defense. In an August letter from Thompson to Loudermilk, Thompson acknowledged that temporary committee records not elevated by the Committee’s actions were not archived if they did not contribute to its investigative activities or official publications.
“Accordingly, and contrary to your letter’s implication, the Select Committee was not obligated to archive all video recordings of transcribed interviews or depositions.”
Independent journalist Julie Kelly, who has been closely following both the prosecutions of President Trump and those charged in connection with the Capitol riot, criticized Judge Chutkan for another unfavorable ruling against the defendant.
“Judge Chutkan denies another defense motion in Jack Smith’s J6 case against Trump,” Kelly tweeted.
“This will be death by a thousand cuts as she acts like Smith’s rubber stamp.
“Chutkan denies Trump’s motion to subpoena parties w/knowledge of missing J6 committee records.”
“The irony is Chutkan, a shameless partisan appointed by Obama, wrote the 2021 order piercing Trump’s [executive privilege] claims to force him to produce presidential records to J6 committee,” she added.
“There is proof J6 committee has withheld records from Congress — this is what Chutkan wants to conceal.”
