Lawyer: Trump seeking to move criminal case to federal court

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyer said Thursday the former president will seek to move his New York criminal case to federal court, attempting avoid a state court trial that a Manhattan judge said he expects to hold early next year.

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, said at a hearing on an unrelated issue in the case that Trump’s defense team plans to file a motion Thursday seeking to have the case transferred from state court to federal court.

Trump pleaded not guilty a month ago to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters.

Trump, a Republican, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

Moving the case to federal court could have significant advantage for Trump, including broadening the potential jury pool beyond Manhattan, where voters have heavily favored his Democratic rivals.