Tanya Chutkan Donated $1,500 to Barack Obama's Campaign, Records Reveal

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Washington D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is set to oversee former President Donald Trump's latest indictment, donated $1,500 to Barack Obama's campaign between 2008 and 2009, according to official documents.

On Tuesday, Trump was charged with a four-count federal indictment that alleges that the former president "pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the 2020 presidential election results through three criminal conspiracies," as per a press release shared by the Department of Justice with Newsweek.

Trump's arraignment is expected to take place on August 3. It is the second federal indictment for the former president after he was charged over the mishandling of national security documents in June. Earlier this year, he was also indicted over the alleged payment of hush money to adult movie actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Tanya Chutkan
Tanya Chutkan, judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Official documents show that the judge donated $1,500 to Barack Obama's campaign between 2008 and 2009. Administrative Office of the U.S. District Court

Hit by this latest indictment, Trump said that it was "nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election."

While President Joe Biden has not yet commented on the indictment, Trump's lawyers and supporters are likely to see Chutkan's previous support for Obama as a sign of her political allegiance to the Democratic Party and push the narrative that the case is politically motivated.

"Trump advocates will grasp onto any ammunition they can to suggest that the justice system is biased against the former president," Thomas Gift, an associate professor who heads up the Centre on U.S. Politics at King's College London, told Newsweek.

"Chutkan's prior Democratic donations will of course become a political football in GOP circles. It will feed into a broader narrative that this entire indictment is nothing more than a political exercise in taking down Trump, orchestrated top-to-bottom by Biden operatives."

Newsweek contacted Trump's team via his website for comment on Wednesday.

In a 2011 official document recording the judicial nomination of Chutkan's husband Peter Krauthamer to be an associate judge of the superior court of D.C., it is revealed that Chutkan made "a total of $1,500 in three different contributions in 2008 and 2009 to Obama for America."

Chutkan, a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, was appointed by Obama in 2014 and confirmed by the Senate in a 95 to 0 vote. She was randomly assigned to preside over Trump's latest federal indictment, though she is no stranger to the case.

The federal judge has previously been vocal in her condemnation of Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, handing down strong punishments for January 6 rioters, including prison sentences.

In October 2021, she sentenced Matthew Mazzocco, a Texas man who had taken part in the storming of the Capitol building on January 6, to 45 days in jail plus 60 hours of community service, going beyond the punishment recommended by prosecutors, which was three months under home confinement and probation.

"If Mr. Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that's not going to deter anyone trying what he did again," Chutkan said in her ruling. "It does not, in this court's opinion, indicate the severity—the gravity of the offenses that he committed on January 6."

In November 2021, she rejected Trump's attempt to block the House select committee investigating January 6 from accessing more than 700 pages of records—including call logs, video logs, and schedules—from his time at the White House. "Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president," Chutkan wrote in her ruling.

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia by email for comment on Wednesday.

Update, 8/2/2023 7:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a comment from Thomas Gift.

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more