Manafort tries to move second trial out of DC

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will file a motion to move his next trial out of Washington, D.C., claiming that a jury in the city cannot handle the case objectively.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday at a hearing that she will entertain the motion, Reuters reports, but added that she was confident in the city’s ability to tackle high-profile cases such as Manafort’s.

{mosads}“This jurisdiction has had very high profile cases before,” she said, according to the news service. “I’d like to believe that is still possible.”

Manafort is facing his second trial as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Earlier this month, a jury found Manafort guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud related to his foreign lobbying while declaring a mistrial on 10 other charges. That case was held in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Manafort also tried to move that trial, unsuccessfully, from the Washington, D.C., metro area, claiming potential jury bias.

He now faces seven counts in Washington, including illegal foreign lobbying and conspiracy to launder money.

None of his charges related to allegations of the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia, but rather involve a scheme in which prosecutors said Manafort made millions working for pro-Russia political groups in Ukraine. They allege that he concealed that money from U.S. authorities in foreign bank accounts, which he used to fund a lavish lifestyle in the states.

The judge in the case agreed to delay opening statements in the case by one week.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that said both sides talked last week about a deal to resolve the second set of charges, but negotiations reportedly stalled over objections raised by Mueller.