Manafort Asks Judge To Move Virginia Trial From DC Suburb To Roanoke

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo

By Caitlin MacNeal | July 6, 2018 6:05 pm

Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort on Friday asked the judge overseeing his Virginia case to move the upcoming trial from Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, D.C., to Roanoke, Virginia. Manafort argued that it will be impossible for him to receive a fair trial if it takes place in Alexandria.

Manafort lamented in the filing that his indictment has been the subject of intense national media attention and claimed that the coverage “has often been sensationalized and untethered from the facts in the case.” He argued that media attention to Manafort’s upcoming trial has been “most intense in and around Washington, D.C.,” including Alexandria.

The lawyers representing Manafort argued that potential jurors in Alexandria will be “are far more likely to have closely followed the developments and news coverage in the Manafort case in light of the division’s close connection with the nation’s capital.” They also argued that potential jurors in the area are more likely to be opponents of President Donald Trump and likely to associate Manafort with the President.

“Nowhere in the country is the bias against Mr. Manafort more apparent than here in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area,” they wrote.



Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/manafort-asks-judge-move-trial-alexandria-roanoke

[emulatorloo]

1. ...

[flying_wahini]

2. Probably had some friends in the courts there; you think?

Or maybe some greasy palms?

[Obvious85]

10. exatly

its not up to him where his trail is, or who the judge is.

[cstanleytech]

3. I smell bullshit. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

4. So in the opinion of Manafort (and his attorney), he can only get a "fair" trial

if the jurors are ignorant of the facts. How will they keep the jurors indefinitely ignorant when the trial unfolds?

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Same fabricated story was used

against the Courts in both Oregon and Nevada with the Bundy Trials. BTW,looking more and more like a messed up Jury Pool . Hope not.

[Historic NY]

5. Roanoke where Democrats outnumber Republicans too.

[underpants]

12. The city yes but the surrounding area is deep dark red

Roanoke is a really cool city. I married into a family who were from there. Strange how Virginia is like 5 or 6 completely different fiefdoms that want to have very little to do with one another.

Nova
Richmond (Richmonders do go to Nova a lot)
Tidewater
Va Beach which technically is in Tidewater but are famously standoffish
Roanoke
and Bristol "the mountain empire" they call themselves

[Yonnie3]

26. Charlottesville

A blue blob that was in a sea of red.

[pnwmom]

17. The article says there is a strong majority of Republicans in that area. n/t

[dameatball]

7. Roanoke is a key consituency of Tea Party House member Morgan Griffith, who lives in Salem.

[dameatball]

8. I spelled that wrong, but whatever. Geography is the same.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

9. The judge probably wonders....

why Manafort and Trump participated in and encouraged the sensationalism...... .......

[BumRushDaShow]

11. The average person in a jury pool wouldn't even know who the hell he is

because they are not watching cable news all day.

[underpants]

13. He seems to be saying that Roanokers are uninformed morons

Last edited Sat Jul 7, 2018, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

but I think his angle here is to get jury members from the deep red areas around Roanoke

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Ehhh...

It just seems he is trying to delay. Period.

To me it's more of a too-healthy-an-ego thing. I bet most residents in D.C. probably have no idea about who he is either other than some guy who worked for Drumpf. There has been such a revolving door that people really are tuning out.

[Bongo Prophet]

21. "Uniformed Morons" paints an interesting picture

I wonder if their uniforms have epaulets? I bet they have medals, oh yes.
(by the way, morons is misspelled, but I am not one to point that sort of thing out)

[underpants]

22. Thanks

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. That was my takeaway too. NT

[SkatmanRoth]

14. If they do know who Manafort is, it is because they watch Faux Nuze all day

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Those would be the only ones but then

since Manafort is under indictment, even Faux may be limiting the exposure about him too... outside of the "witch hunt" narrative.

We all chuckle about Rachel's "Wall" of names so you can imagine that the average person probably has no clue because they are not political junkies.

[yellowcanine]

18. Hoping for an all white jury, perhaps?

[Sam McGee]

19. About Roanoake . . .

Roanoke is a Democratic island in a sea of red. The city is in the lower-middle Shenandoah Valley, one of the reddest areas in Virginia. Manafort wants to move the trial there in hopes of getting a friendly jury.

Roanoke is in the 6th Congressional District, which is represented by a far-right Republican, Bob Goodlatte. He announced he is retiring. At the VA-06 Republican Committee meeting that was held to nominate their candidate for the November election, they came within one vote of nominating Cynthia Dunbar, a raving loon who believes public schools are unconstitutional, the Bible should replace the Constitution, etc. Instead, they nominated a guy who is a long-time Goodlatte staffer.

[Nitram]

20. Manafort's team wants a friendly Republican jury.

[dalton99a]

23. Heck, move it to Russia - where his peers live

[nolabels]

25. It's also an insult to the judge

Its subtext is the court he presides over is not worthy

[FakeNoose]

27. It's all in the message

[still_one]

28. Move the trial to Gitmo