Can Donald Trump Get a Fair Trial In New York? Former President Donald Trump’s legal team proposed Sunday that the upcoming hush money trial be moved to a venue outside of Manhattan. Why? Because according to Trump’s attorneys, Manhattan is a “stronghold of liberalism.”
“The issue with venue is that Manhattan is like 87 percent pro-Joe Biden the last election,” Donald Trump attorney Jim Trusty told ABC. “It’s a real stronghold of liberalism, of activism, and that infects the whole process.”
Trusty is referring to the 2020 election outcome, in which President Biden earned 86.7 percent of Manhattan’s votes. And, you know, Trusty raises a fair point. Donald Trump is a unique defendant; he’s the first president in the history of the United States to ever to have been charged criminally. Accordingly, Trump’s trial will raise special concerns, the impartiality of the judge and jury chief amongst them.
Donald Trump Also Wants a Change of Venue
Donald Trump has made similar comments, arguing that “the stage of his prosecution being in Manhattan” sets up “an unfair process.” An alternative? Trump suggested the case be moved to Staten Island, which has a higher concentration of Republican voters than Manhattan.
“Very unfair venue, with some areas that voted 1% Republican,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This case should be moved to nearby Staten Island – would be a very fair and secure location for the trial. Additionally, the highly partisan judge & his family are well-known Trump haters. He was an unfair disaster on a previous Trump related case, wouldn’t recuse, gave horrible jury instructions, & impossible to deal with during the witch hunt trial. His daughter worked for ‘Kamala’ & now the Biden-Harris campaign.”
Motion for a change of venue will not be heard for some time.
The Case Looks Thin
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump appears thin. Even Democratic legal experts are calling the case thin. The implication in the case being especially thin is that the charges are politically motivated. And if the charges themselves are perceived to be politically motivated, then it makes sense to have pointed concerns about the political makeup of the jury.
Well, even if the charges against Trump were robust, the simple fact that a president is on trial would necessitate an intense examination of all politically related facets of the case. And any former president is going to have some sort of polarizing effect – Donald Trump more so than any other perhaps.
Granted, to hold that prospective jurors are incapable of assessing a case on the legal merits, that the prospective jurors will be held captive to their political bias, is deeply cynical. Yet, demographics and related bias are commonly understood to be a real thing when selecting a jury. The OJ Simpson trial and its jury offer the most high-profile example. The jury in a case against Trump will receive similar scrutiny.
Effects of the Case on the 2020 Election
Trump raised over $12 million following the indictment announcement. That’s a serious haul, indicating that GOP voters are motivated to defend their former president, and current candidate, in his bid to (acquit himself) re-win the White House. Trump is successfully playing up the indictment as proof-positive that he is indeed the victim of a sprawling Democrat-led witch hunt. That the case is so thin lends credence to the idea that Donald Trump is being wrongfully prosecuted, because, well, at the moment he is being wrongfully prosecuted.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
