Tanya Chutkan is the Nightmare Judge Donald Trump Would Have Dreaded

Tanya Chutkan, the District Court judge assigned to oversee Donald Trump's trial over his alleged efforts to unlawfully overturn the 2020 presidential election result, is expected to "move this case quickly"—according to a top legal analysis.

The claim was made on CNN by Norm Eisen, an attorney who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump's first impeachment trial.

Eisen told CNN host Wolf Blitzer that under Chutkan's direction he expects the case to "go to trial before the 2024 presidential election." This would be a major blow to Trump, who polling indicates has a significant lead in the race to be the Republican's 2024 presidential contender.

On Tuesday Trump was indicted on four charges regarding his reaction to the 2020 presidential election, which he is continuing to claim was rigged despite these claims being dismissed repeatedly in court and by independent legal experts. The former president was accused of committing conspiracy to defraud the U.S.; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

In response Trump claimed the charges are "fake" and compared his treatment to that suffered by opponents of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, both of which executed thousands of political dissidents.

During his CNN appearance Eisen praised Chutkan, describing her as "one of the great trial lawyers."

He commented: "Just Chutkan is one of the pillars of the D.C. bar where I've practiced for the last 30 years, and in particular emerged as one of our leading defense lawyers, part of the defense bar, when she was at the public defenders' service."

Eisen added Chutkan "knows how to move a case quickly" and suggested Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is overseeing Trump's prosecution regarding the alleged payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, could "make way for this case." Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the Daniels case, the trial for which is scheduled to begin in March 2024.

Chutkan concluded: "I think we are going to see this case go to trial before the 2024 presidential election."

Newsweek has reached out to Donald Trump and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for comment using the press contact form on their official websites.

Chutkan, who was appointed to D.C. District Court in 2014 by President Barack Obama, has gained a reputation for imposing tough sentences on Trump supporters convicted of participating in the January 6 2021 storming of Congress.

An Associate Press article published in 2022 labeled her the "toughest punisher" of January 6 cases, claiming she had "consistently taken the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any judge serving on Washington's federal trial court."

It noted that in some cases Chutkan had even imposed tougher sentences than those recommended by prosecutors.

In November 2021 Chutkan oversaw a legal bid launched by Trump in an effort to stop the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 violence from accessing documents from the National Archives, which he argued were covered by executive privilege.

However, Chutkan ruled against Trump, noting that "presidents are not kings, and the plaintiff is not president."