Unless a statute or these rules permit otherwise...
Your reading of Rule 18 is superficial and completely ignores its opening and qualifying phrase. Search the case law and you will find many exceptions in cases of broad criminal conspiracies which allowed prosecution in other eligible federal judicial districts.
Two other facts to consider:
1. The Clinton Foundation, with offices in New York City and Little Rock, is under active investigation by USA Cody Hiland in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
2. American uranium is mined in Nebraska, Texas, Utah and Wyoming and is shipped across many other states; all federal districts involved could be eligible venues for prosecution of a criminal conspiracy involving minerals sold to Uranium One.
Time will tell...
The Clinton Foundation in Little Rock administers the Presidential Library. I have no idea what crimes may have been committed by the Presidential Library.
The Clinton Foundation in New York City administers The Clinton Global Initiative. All of the alleged Uranium One bribes were paid into programs sponsored by the Global Initiative.
All of the Uranium exported from the USA went to Canada, Europe, or Japan, and all shipments had the necessary approvals. If there is some crime involved with selling Uranium to American allies, I am not aware of it.
The only completely obvious potential crime was the approval of the Uranium One sale by Hillary Clinton's Committee on Foreign Investment, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and by Barack Obama. All of those approvals were agreed to in Washington D.C.
Re: “Your reading of Rule 18 is superficial and completely ignores its opening and qualifying phrase.”
The opening phrase: “Unless a statute or these rules permit otherwise...”
Pure Boiler Plate - I'll bet that exact same phrase can be found 10,000 times in the Code of Federal Regulations.
As for qualifiers, there are three, expressed in Rule 20 and 21.
(1) A trial may be transferred if the defendant pleads guilty. In other words, no trial.
(2) For local prejudice.
(3) For the convenience of the defendants, witnesses, or the victim (in this case, “the people of the United States”).
I repeat my earlier statement...
Your suggestion that a former Secretary of State, an ex-president, and various Cabinet Secretaries or Agency Directors would be tried anywhere outside of Washington D.C. is beyond silly.