Former Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer can get a fair trial on insider-trading charges in New York City even if the jury is told he was a member of Donald Trump’s transition team, a judge ruled, rejecting the Republican’s request from banning prosecutors from introducing the evidence as a “red herring.”
(Bloomberg) — Former Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer can get a fair trial on insider-trading charges in New York City even if the jury is told he was a member of Donald Trump’s transition team, a judge ruled, rejecting the Republican’s request from banning prosecutors from introducing the evidence as a “red herring.”
“Few names are as toxic” to potential jurors in the Southern District of New York as that of Trump, Buyer told US District Judge Richard Berman in his request to keep the reference that he was an expert on policy issues related to veterans on the transition team out of the trial, which is scheduled to start Feb. 28.
“It is one thing to be a Republican defendant in this district, but quite another to have one’s name associated with Donald Trump,” Buyer’s attorneys said in a letter to the judge. “Because Mr. Buyer’s expertise and relationships will be apparent from all the circumstances in the case, including his 18 years in Congress, there is no reason to utter the word ‘Trump’ in this trial.
Prosecutors argued there is no reason to believe that a fair jury can be picked in the district, noting that Trump’s ally Tom Barrack was cleared in November of charges that he tried to influence Trump’s campaign and administration as an agent of the United Arab Emirates. Berman agreed.
“There is no doubt in my mind we will pick a fair and impartial jury, we always do,” Berman said. “These are red herrings in my opinion.”
A Republican who represented Indiana in the House from 1993 to 2011, Buyer is accused of making more than $349,000 from trading on confidential information he obtained about two mergers through his consulting work – the 2018 combination of T-Mobile and Sprint and the 2019 purchase of Navigant Consulting by Guidehouse LLP.
Buyer, a US Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star in the Gulf War, says he was never in possession of material non-public information.
The case is US v Buyer, 22-cr-397, US District Court, Southern District of New York.
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