Donald Trump and his lawyers may spend the next several months arguing that the former president's upcoming trial should be moved to what they consider a more favorable area of New York for him to get a fair and balanced jury.
On Tuesday morning, hours before his historic arraignment, Trump suggested that his trial for allegedly falsifying business records should not take place in Manhattan because it overwhelmingly votes Democrat, and should instead move to the more Republican leaning Staten Island.
"Very unfair venue, with some areas that voted 1% Republican. This case should be moved to nearby Staten Island—would be a very fair and secure location for the trial," Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump later pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. This is in relation to hush money he arranged to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal so they would keep alleged affairs he had with the women a secret prior to the 2016 election.
In the 2020 election, Trump was heavily beaten by Joe Biden in Manhattan, with the current president winning 87 percent of the vote to Trump's 12 percent, as well as in the Bronx (83 to 16 percent), Brooklyn (77 to 22 percent) and Queens (72 to 27 percent).
Staten Island was the only New York borough that Trump won in 2020, where he gained 57 percent of the vote to Biden's 42 percent. Trump also won in Staten Island during the 2016 election, claiming 57 percent of the vote compared with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's 41 percent.
However, a number of experts have quashed the idea that Trump's trial could be moved just based on voting history.
"The only reason he would try to move the venue to Staten Island is that he thinks—based on voter registration—that that's a friendlier potential jury pool for him," Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor, told Bloomberg News. "That's not going to fly."
Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official, also explained there is no real precedent for moving the location of trials based on perceived jury bias.
"We tried a 9/11 conspirator in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia—Alexandria, about three miles from the Pentagon—and we were able to assemble a fair jury," Rosenberg told MSNBC.
"So, you're not looking for a jury that's never heard of Donald Trump or Stormy Daniels or hush money payments," Rosenberg said. "You're not looking for a jury or jurors that have no opinions. You're looking for jurors who can be fair, who can sit in the courtroom, listen to the evidence, and follow the instructions of the judge. That's all you're looking for.
"In a city with millions of people, the notion that you can't find fair jurors in Manhattan is ludicrous. The Trump team may move for a change in venue. I don't give that much chance of success."
Trump is due to appear next in court in December, when Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will hear arguments and decide on expected motions to dismiss the case.
Any trial will not take place until sometime in 2024 at the earliest.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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