Many believe that those who've been prosecuted for their varying levels of involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol protests have been treated unfairly, and some, including Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, is laying blame on the judge.
According to Breitbart, Gaetz went as far as introducing a resolution recently with the aim of punishing Judge Tanya Chutkan in the form of censure.
Gaetz, in a written statement, said the way she's handled the cases is "deeply concerning," accusing Chutkan of showing blatant bias against the defendants who were part of the protest.
The Florida Republican pointed to how she handled defendants involved in the Black Lives Matter protests versus those in the Jan. 6 protests.
In a statement to Fox News, Gaetze held nothing back as he pointed out the difference in how the cases were handled.
"It is deeply concerning to see a United States District Court judge show such blatant impropriety from the bench," Gaetz said.
He added, "Judge Tanya Chutkan’s impracticality of her tough sentencing of Jan. 6th defendants, despite openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, showcases not only a lack of impartiality but also a disregard for the sacred duty of a judge to uphold justice fairly."
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., will introduce a House resolution to censure and condemn U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who's presiding over former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/JigQicE0Ck
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) August 18, 2023
Notably, Chutkan is the judge overseeing the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Gaetz has also asked the House Judiciary Committee to launch an investigation into Chutkan's actions from the bench.
Fox News noted:
One of the instances that Gaetz’s resolution zeroes in on is an Oct. 4, 2021, sentencing hearing during which Chutkan disagreed with a comparison made between the Capitol riot and the protests after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
"People gathered all over the country last year to protest the violent murder by the police of an unarmed man ... to compare the actions of people protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights to those of a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and ignores a very real danger that the Jan. 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy," Gaetz cited Chutkan as having said previously.
Gaetz also pointed to several instances of unusually harsh punishments and sentences for people very lightly involved in the Jan. 6 protests at the Capitol.
Only time will tell if Chutkan is subject to a deeper investigation, but it looks like Gaetz has the ball rolling.
