Former President Trump’s lawyer suggested on Sunday that his client’s team would be open to moving a trial to a venue outside of Manhattan as Trump has suggested due to the borough being a “stronghold of liberalism.”
“The issue with venue is that Manhattan is like 87 percent pro-Joe Biden the last election,” Jim Trusty, Trump’s lawyer, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s a real stronghold of liberalism, of activism, and that infects the whole process.”
The comments from Trusty, pointing to the fact that President Biden won Manhattan with 86.7 percent of the vote in 2020, continue a line of contention brought by Trump himself.
Trump last week became the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges, accused of 34 felony counts related to the falsification of business records in connection to alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and others ahead of the 2016 election.
The former president has argued that the stage of his prosecution being in Manhattan sets it up an unfair process, suggesting it be moved to Staten Island which is more Republican and attacking both the prosecutor and the judge in the case.
“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 in all caps on his Truth Social platform on the day of his arraignment on Tuesday last week. “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.”
But Trusty said that while Trump has called for the venue to be moved, signaling his preference for Staten Island, the process is a “long way out” from considering such motions, including one to dismiss the charges.
“We’re a long way out from worrying about changes of venue or evidentiary type motions,” Trusty said.
The next hearing in the case is set for December.