Indian-American Judge Upadhyaya hails from Gujarat, India, and raised near Kansas, Missouri.
Our Bureau
Washington
The preliminary appearance of Donald Trump, the former US president, in a federal courthouse in downtown Washington DC was presided over by an Indian-American Judge Moxila A Upadhyaya. This is in relation to the charges of trying to stay in power despite Trump’s electoral loss in 2020.
Upadhyaya at the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington has handled proceedings for several January 6 defendants.
Trump, on Thursday, pleaded not guilty before Upadhyaya, who is seeking to contest the 2024 US presidential election as a Republican nominee. He appeared at the courthouse that is just blocks away from the Capitol, where his angry supporters on January 6, 2021, stormed the US Congress.
The Indian-American Judge Upadhyaya hails from Gujarat, India, and raised near Kansas, Missouri. She will be handling initial matters in this federal case of prime importance.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan will oversee Trump’s case of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and the resultant violent assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. She was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and is known to be a tough punisher of capitol rioters.
In a significant move, Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday, August 1, with criminal charges like conspiracy to defraud the US, attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. Trump has been accused of spreading prolific lies by accusing the 2020 US elections of being fraudulent, switching votes to deny him victory.
