Judge upholds Trump’s indictment

WASHINGTON -- The federal judge presiding over the election subversion case against former President Donald Trump rejected Saturday a defense effort to dismiss the indictment on claims that he was prosecuted for vindictive and political purposes.

Trump failed to prove that the federal indictment against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election results was an improper, politically motivated effort by President Joe Biden's administration to undermine his run for the White House, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in a decision released Saturday evening.

Trump "provides only speculation and his opinion that the government indicted him" for political reasons, Chutkan wrote.

The ruling marked Chutkan's first major decision in the case in months and came one day after the Washington-based judge regained authority over the docket from the U.S.