Who is Tanya Chutkan, Judge in Trump's 2020 Election Case?

Washington D.C. federal Judge Tanya Chutkan was randomly selected to oversee former President Donald Trump’s new 2020 election criminal case. Who is she?

Chutkan's Resume: Then-President Barack Obama nominated Chutkan as a federal judge in 2013, and the Senate unanimously confirmed her the following year. In 2021, she ruled that the House Jan. 6 select committee could access Trump’s White House files. She has also "consistently taken the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any" D.C. judge, according to a 2022 Associated Press (Lean Left bias) article. In four Jan. 6 cases in which prosecutors did not seek jail time, Chutkan instead gave terms ranging from 14 days to 45 days. From 2002 to 2014 when she became a federal judge, Chutkan worked at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner. Then-second son Hunter Biden was of counsel at the firm from 2009 to 2014.

How the Media Covered It: Left-rated outlets often framed Chutkan as tough but fair. Right-rated sources more often framed her as pro-Democrat. Politico (Lean Left bias) said Chutkan "has avoided some of the most pointed criticisms of Trump that some of her colleagues on the federal bench in D.C. have delivered as they’ve sentenced" Jan. 6 rioters. New York Post (Lean Right) said she's "known for harshly sentencing Jan. 6 rioters and formerly represented the fraudulent blood-testing company Theranos while working at a law firm associated with first son Hunter Biden."