U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan was randomly assigned to oversee former President Donald Trump’s third indictment case, related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
But Chutkan already is a veteran of cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol siege.
Some of Chutkan’s sentences for Jan. 6 defendants were the subject of news coverage long before Trump’s most recent indictment — a fact the former president’s supporters quickly seized on.
“The Trump case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, according to the court docket,” conservative activist Jack Posobiec wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Chutkan, an Obama appointee, is the only federal judge in Washington, D.C., who has sentenced Jan. 6 defendants to sentences longer than the government had requested.”
The Trump case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, according to the court docket. Chutkan, an Obama appointee, is the only federal judge in Washington, D.C., who has sentenced Jan. 6 defendants to sentences longer than the government had requested.
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 1, 2023
Although Chutkan has exceeded prosecutors’ sentencing requests more frequently than other judges overseeing Jan. 6 cases, Posobiec’s claim that she is alone in this practice is inaccurate. We found several other examples.
Chutkan, who was appointed to the bench in 2014 by President Barack Obama, was assigned to oversee Trump’s case by random draw, following court procedures, The Washington Post reported. It’s not her first encounter with Trump; Chutkan previously ruled against him in a separate case with Jan. 6 ties. In 2021, she ruled that Trump White House records were not protected by executive privilege and could be turned over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
We reached out to Posobiec for comment, but did not hear back before publication.
Sentences for Jan. 6 defendants
Chutkan has been more likely to give harsher sentences to Jan. 6 defendants than her peers, data shows.
As of February 2023, “there have only been six cases in which judges sentenced defendants to prison time even if prosecutors had not sought it,” NPR reported. “Chutkan, who has given time behind bars in every Jan. 6 case she’s heard, was the judge in four of those cases.”
In one instance, Chutkan sentenced Matthew Mazzocco, a Texas man who pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol, to 45 days incarceration, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution. Prosecutors had recommended he be sentenced to 3 months home detention, 36 months probation, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution.
“If Mr. Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that’s not going to deter anyone from trying what he did again,” Chutkan said at Mazzocco’s sentencing hearing. “It does not, in this Court’s opinion, indicate the severity, the gravity, of the offenses that he committed on January 6.”
She has issued sentences in at least 37 cases, according to a Justice Department list of sentences handed down related to the Capitol riot.
Of those, she has exceeded prosecutors’ recommended sentences nine times, or in about 24% of cases. In nine additional cases, the sentence she issued closely matched what prosecutors had sought. The remaining 51% of the time, Chutkan’s sentences for Jan. 6 defendants were lighter than what the government had requested.
We found several examples of judges appointed by presidents from both political parties who also exceeded prosecutors’ sentencing requests for Jan. 6 defendants.
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Prosecutors recommended that Frank Scavo, a Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building, be sentenced to 14 days incarceration and $500 restitution. In November 2021, Judge Royce Lamberth (appointed by President Ronald Reagan) sentenced Scavo to 60 days in prison, a $5,000 fine and $500 restitution.
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The government asked that Russell Peterson, who pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building, be sentenced to 14 days incarceration and $500 restitution. In December 2021, Judge Amy Berman Jackson (appointed by President Barack Obama) sentenced Peterson to 30 days incarceration and $500 restitution.
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Prosecutors requested that James Bonet, a New York man who pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, be sentenced to 45 days incarceration, 12 months supervised release and $500 restitution. In March 2022, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan (nominated to his current position by President Bill Clinton, and previously appointed to judgeships by presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush) sentenced Bonet to 90 days incarceration followed by a year of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and $500 restitution.
These harsher sentences have not been the norm for Jan. 6 defendants.
It has been more common for judges — including Chutkan — to issue lighter sentences. In one example, the government asked that Nicholas Lattanzi, a Delaware man who pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building, be sentenced to 30 days incarceration, 36 months probation and $500 in restitution. Instead, Chutkan sentenced Lattanzi to 14 days incarceration, a $500 fine and $500 restitution.
In March, an NPR analysis found that judges have given less prison time than what prosecutors sought in about 66% of Jan. 6 cases. That tracks with June 2022 findings from The Associated Press that in almost 75% of Jan. 6 cases, judges have issued lighter sentences than prosecutors requested, exceeding sentence recommendations only about 10% of the time.
Our ruling
Posobiec said in a tweet that Chutkan “is the only federal judge in Washington, D.C., who has sentenced Jan. 6 defendants to sentences longer than the government had requested.”
Chutkan has handed down some of the harshest sentences for Jan. 6 defendants and has exceeded prosecutors recommendations more frequently than other judges. But she’s not alone in exceeding prosecutors’ recommendations. We found several examples of other federal judges who also have issued sentences harsher than prosecutors requested for Jan. 6 defendants.
We rate the claim False.
PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird and Audience Engagement Producer Ellen Hine contributed to this report.
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