Paul Manafort's lawyers claim Trump is making things worse as they seek to move trial - Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Wednesday asked a federal judge to move his next trial on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller out of a Washington, D.C. court
- Manafort's lawyers cite the extensive and largely negative publicity the trial has generated, as well as a botched tweet by the president about the case.
- The request comes a week after Manafort was convicted of eight tax and banking fraud charges after his first trial in Alexandria, Va.
Dan Mangan | Kevin Breuninger
Published 4 Hours Ago Updated 3 Hours Ago
Lawyers for Paul Manafort suggested President Donald Trump is making it harder for his ex-campaign boss to get a fair trial as they asked a judge to move his next case on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller out of a Washington, D.C. federal court.
The lawyers cited the extensive and largely negative publicity the trial has generated for Manafort, as well as a botched tweet by the president about the case.
Manafort is asking that the trial on money laundering and other charges, which is due to begin jury selection on Sept. 17, be transferred more than 200 miles away to U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Virginia.
"A fair trial will be impossible without a change of venue to a more neutral and less media saturated locale," Manafort's lawyers argued in the motion, which was made public Wednesday.
His lawyers also said that Manafort has "become an unwilling player in the larger drama between Mr. Mueller and President Trump" — an association made worse by Trump weighing in on the trial.
Trump has repeatedly blasted Mueller's probe into Russian interefence in the 2016 presidential election, and possible collusion by Trump's campaign, as a "witch hunt."
The defense team also noted that nearly 91 percent of the votes cast in the presidential election in D.C. went to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, with Trump garnering just 4.1 percent of the votes.
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