Former President Donald Trump has indicated that he plans to request a change of venue away from Washington D.C. in response to Special Counsel Jack Smith's latest criminal indictment against him over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and delay the Jan. 6, 2021, congressional certification of those results.
That is because, Trump argued, D.C. is too politically biased against Republicans broadly and him specifically for him to receive a fair trial from a jury of his peers, the Western Journal reported.
The former president made that quite explicit with a series of posts to his Truth Social account on Sunday, though it is an argument that he, his attorneys, and other Republicans -- including allies and rivals -- have similarly made over the past week since Smith's indictment was unveiled.
Sunday morning, in an all-caps post, former President Trump wrote, "NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL, OR EVEN CLOSE TO A FAIR TRIAL, IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR THIS, BUT JUST ONE IS THAT I AM CALLING FOR A FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF THIS FILTHY AND CRIME RIDDEN EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR NATION, WHERE MURDERS HAVE JUST SHATTERED THE ALL TIME RECORD, OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES HAVE NEVER NEEN WORSE, AND TOURISTS HAVE FLED. THE FEDERAL TAKEOVER IS VERY UNPOPULAR WITH POTENTIAL AREA JURORS, BUT NECESSARY FOR SAFETY, GREATNESS, & FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE!"
Roughly 10 minutes later, Trump posted, "DERANGED JACK SMITH AND OUR HIGHLY PARTISAN, AND VERY CORRUPT, DEPARTMENT OF INJUSTICE, COULD HAVE BROUGHT THIS BIDIN 'OPPONENT' CASE YEARS AGO, BUT CHOSE TO WAIT AND BRING IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY ELECTION CAMPAIGN. NO WAY!!! I HOPE YOU ARE WATCHING AMERICA. OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
The former president's rant concluded about another 10 minutes after that second post when he said, "THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE 'ASSIGNED' TO THE RIDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE. EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE! WE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ASKING FOR RECUSAL OF THIS JUDGE ON VERY POWERFUL GROUNDS, AND LIKEWISE FOR VENUE CHANGE, OUT IF D.C."
That was actually not the first time that former President Trump had argued on Truth Social that he would be unable to receive a fair trial in D.C. due to the capital city's overt political bias against him, as Just the News reported that he had similarly done so last week following the initial unveiling of the indictment against him.
"IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., which is over 95% anti-Trump, & for which I have called for a Federal TAKEOVER in order to bring our Capital back to Greatness. It is now a high crime embarrassment to our Nation and, indeed, the World. This Indictment is all about Election Interference!!!" Trump said in a Wednesday post that also suggested the trial should be moved to nearby West Virginia, a "politically unbiased" state that voted more than 68 percent in his favor in the 2020 election.
Just the News pointed out that in the 2016 and 2020 elections, D.C.'s electorate voted around 92 percent and 93 percent, respectively, in favor of Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, while he received around 4 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of the city's vote in those two elections.
The Western Journal noted that those overwhelmingly partisan vote totals, not to mention the city's near-incestuous and beneficial financial ties to the federal government -- far more so than his vague promises to address D.C.'s crime and filth -- are the real reasons why Trump would be unable to receive a fair trial in D.C.
It wasn't just former President Trump making the argument that a change of venue away from D.C. was necessary, as The Hill reported last week that numerous prominent Republicans -- be they elected officials, allies, or even rivals -- similarly said that D.C. would be an unfair venue in which to prosecute the uniquely despised former GOP president.
"I don’t think any Republican, much less any America-first type Republican, could ever expect to have a fair trial in a D.C. setting with a D.C. judge and D.C. jury. It’s all meant to rubber-stamp what they already want to see happen," conservative grassroots organizer Ned Ryun said. "Of course it’s a rigged game. I think any fair-minded person would step back and say, ‘If you really want this to be a legitimate pursuit of justice, you would not be having it in D.C.' I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it will be legitimate."
Some Republicans, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), took direct aim at U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee and supporter of former President Barack Obama who has ruled against Trump in prior political cases and has been exceptionally heavy-handed in doling out punishments for several other Jan. 6-charged individuals.
Even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's nearest rival for the GOP nomination, said in a social media post, "Washington, DC, is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality," which he further argued was in line with the "politicization of the rule of law" and was the focus of his pledge to, if elected, "end the weaponization of the federal government."
