Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a motion from former President Donald Trump on Friday to strike portions of Jack Smith's indictment against him that they claim are "inflammatory" and prejudicial to a jury, jabbing at his own inflammatory statements online.

Trump's team specifically objected to language that a “large and angry crowd—including many individuals whom [Trump] had deceived into believing the Vice President could and might change the election results—violently attacked the Capitol and halted the proceeding.”

Chutkan pointed out that Trump would not be allowed to pick and choose which parts of the indictment he wanted to strike, and that he has made plenty of his own inflammatory statements online.

"Fails to cite" evidence

Chutkan also said that Trump's lawyers didn't give evidence to support any allegation that the indictment's language would prejudice a jury pool.

“Defendant fails to cite even one example of that evidence,” Chutkan wrote in the filing.

It wasn't clear what evidence a party could cite that would prove jury contamination before the fact. The language does seem pretty inflammatory, but it's exactly what the left thinks happened on January 6, so it's not surprising that leftists Chutkan and Smith can't see that it would be prejudicial.

No doubt her rejection of the motion will be grounds for appeal if Trump were convicted on any of the charges against him in the case.

The Trump team is covering all of its bases in an attempt to defend its client, and a major part of that defense will be that the left is out to get him no matter what he does, or doesn't do.

Other motions

The motion is part of the back-and-forth between Trump and Smith.

Trump's team has also filed motions for Chutkan to recuse herself as well as for a delay in the case until after the election, both of which were also denied.

The defense did get a few extra weeks to review discovery in the case, until mid-December, but Chutkan seems hell-bent on starting the trial in March 2024.

A gag order that Chutkan tried to impose on Trump was also paused by the appeals court to give Trump time to make his case about why it should be lifted permanently.

Personal animus

Both Smith and Chutkan seem to have a personal animus against Trump, which means both should have to recuse themselves from his case.

It's obvious that Chutkan wants nothing more than to throw the book at Trump, and he will have a huge task ahead of him to beat the charges in this and three other indictments, as unfair as they are.