Judge Tanya Chutkan, the D.C. federal district court's hanging-ist judge when it comes to the January 6 cases, was (quite coincidentally, I'm sure) assigned to Donald Trump's case after Jack Smith essentially indicted him for believing that the November 2020 election was rife with fraud.  (That's a belief, apparently, available only to Democrats following elections.)  The fact that Chutkan hates January 6 defendants doesn't mean she's anti-Trump.  However, Julie Kelly has revealed a trial transcript in which Chutkan openly states her belief that Trump should be in jail.

Judges are obligated to abide by rules of conduct and, no matter the jurisdiction.  A primary rule is that the judge must be and appear to be impartial.  It destroys the legal system's integrity if people know that the judge trying cases has already decided the parties' innocence or guilt (or, in civil cases, their liability or lack thereof).

I know this for a fact because I spent my entire legal career in the San Francisco Bay Area.  One of the reasons I'm a conservative is because of that experience.  I started out as a Democrat, but after it became apparent that leftist judges were interested in neither facts nor law, but adjudicated cases using the filter of their political ideology (banks and landlords always lost, no matter the controlling facts or law), I became quite hostile to the Democrat party.

Technically, if you're a federal judge, you must abide by the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.  The canons all lean toward a Judiciary that impresses the public with its even-handedness and lack of bias:

Canon 1: A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary

Canon 2: A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All Activities

Canon 3: A Judge Should Perform the Duties of the Office Fairly, Impartially and Diligently

Canon 4: A Judge May Engage in Extrajudicial Activities That are Consistent With the Obligations of Judicial Office

Canon 5: A Judge Should Refrain From Political Activity

Judge Chutkan, an Obama appointee, seems disinterested in Canon 3, the one about performing her job "fairly, impartially and diligently."  She seems especially disinterested in subdivisions (C)(1) and (2), which control judges who have a problem with impartiality:

(C) Disqualification.

(1) A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances in which:

(a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;

Why do I question Judge Chutkan's fealty to the judicial code of conduct? Because of something Julie Kelly turned up:

Today Judge Tanya Chutkan warned Trump's lawyers that politics had no place in her courtroom or in this case.

But here is Judge Chutkan berating a J6er during a sentencing hearing in Oct. 2022.

She clearly expressed anger that Trump was still "free" and not behind bars: pic.twitter.com/BaFEItMGYz

— Julie Kelly рџ‡єрџ‡ё (@julie_kelly2) August 11, 2023

So the judge presiding over a case demanding that Trump should be locked up for questioning the election and for events subsequent to the election has already stated on the record her belief that Trump should be locked up for questioning the election and events subsequent to the election.  Not only should she disqualify herself, but she should also be ejected from the Judiciary entirely for having failed to disqualify.

After all, this is not just any case.  It is a case of national consequence, given that the sitting president is attacking his opponent as a criminal and trying to silence him and then imprison him during the lead-up to the election.

I have tremendous disdain for all but a few judges, and those few are politically conservative and understand that they owe fealty to the Constitution and the laws of the United States.  They also believe that facts are stubborn things regardless of their inclinations.  And then there's Judge Chutkan, whose apparent unethical conduct is entirely in line with my expectation of America's judicial class.

Image of an executioner from Free*Svg.