Former President Donald Trump is entitled to a fair trial but who knows whether he will get one with this amount of publicity, says former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes.
"The standard for mood-changing venue is that you can change it to someplace where the publicity is lower, but where in this country is the publicity going to be lower when it comes to the indictment of a former president for the first time in our nation's history?" Hakes asked Thursday during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"Well, there isn't anywhere, so I'm not sure that would really be an appeal ground later, but it is true that this is poisoning the well as did all the Russiagate stuff.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think that half this country hates the former president mostly because of all of the false information that they got that made them believe that he was an asset of Vladimir Putin and they've never let it go," she added.
"It's now become part of their subconscious, so anything he's alleged to have done that's wrong or illegal or immoral they want to believe it because it's part of that same narrative. And so it's been effective in hamstringing his candidacy, his presidency, and now his new candidacy for office again."
Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back.
The history-making court date, centered on charges that Trump mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect, kick-starts a legal process that will unfold at the height of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Hakes said the media has made it so difficult for anyone to represent the president.
"How can he get fair representation or good representation in that climate?" she asked.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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