Lawyers for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort want to move his case from Washington, D.C. four hours south to Roanoke, Va.
Manafort, 69, faces charges of conspiracy and money laundering in federal court in the nation’s capital stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.
The long-time Republican operative has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which pre-dating his time on the Trump campaign.
Manafort’s lawyers argue that the “unrelenting news coverage” is why the trial should be moved to Roanoke.
“A fair trial will be impossible without a change of venue to a more neutral and less media saturated locale,” Manafort’s lawyers wrote.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Tuesday delayed opening in the trial to Sept. 24, after his lawyers said they need more time to prepare after just finishing Manafort’s trial in Virginia.
Jackson told Manafort’s attorney Richard Westling that D.C. “has had very high-profile cases before” when he said they would file a change-in-venue request., but said she would not pre-judge the matter.
Manafort, who is already in prison after Jackson revoked his bond on June 15, was convicted last week on eight of 18 charges of bank and tax brought by Mueller in Alexandria, Va.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on the 10 remaining charges, giving the government until Wednesday to decide whether to retry Manafort.
Ellis had denied a similar request for a change of venue after Manafort’s defense team argued negative publicity was cause to move the trial.
Manafort’s lawyers cited a tweet from President Trump sent after Manafort’s bond was revoked, in which he said his former campaign head had “received a tough sentence.”
That tweet, according to Manafort’s lawyers, suggested incorrectly that Manafort had already been sentenced for a crime.
“This Court revoked Mr. Manafort’s release and remanded him into custody,” Manafort’s lawyers wrote, adding, “This event unleashed a spate of intensely negative news coverage suggesting that Mr. Manafort violated the law.”
Manafort’s lawyers also argued that the media has turned Mueller’s investigation into a “showdown” between the special counsel and the president.
“Mr. Manafort as the first person tried and convicted by the Special Counsel’s Office, has become an unwilling player in the larger drama between Mr. Mueller and President Trump,” the lawyers argued in their motion.
