Trump Defense Attempts to Move Capitol Hill Assault Trial

But it is notoriously difficult to show that the population from which the jury is drawn is so biased or influenced by prior publicity that the trial needs to be moved. Such attempts have failed in some of the most high-profile recent trials. And president-appointed judges from both parties to the federal court in Washington — including Tanya Chutkan, the presiding judge in Trump’s trial — have rejected similar attempts by many of the more than 1,000 Trump supporters accused of taking part in the trial. assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“The political leanings of jurors are not, by themselves, proof that they cannot fairly and impartially weigh the evidence before them and apply the law as directed by the court,” Chutkan wrote last year in denying the change of venue request of a defendant dated January 6.

Trump’s defenders have yet to file a formal change of venue for the trial accusing the former president of conspiring with his allies to overturn his 2020 defeat. But attorney John Lauro said on CBS Sunday that he has “absolutely that intention.

“The president, like everyone sitting in this room, has the right to a fair trial, and we will get it,” Lauro said.

Trump is accused of conspiring to defraud the country and obstruct the business of Congress in the first case seeking to hold the former president criminally responsible for his efforts to stay in power after his loss to Joe Biden. He has denied any wrongdoing and says prosecutor Jack Smith’s intent is to undermine his 2024 election campaign.