Jury Selected for Trump’s Trial Over Hush Money to Adult Film Star
NEW YORK — Jury selection at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in a New York court ended Thursday with only a few alternates needed to pass judgment on the first former president to face criminal proceedings.
By the end of the day, the full contingent of 12 jurors for the main panel and one alternate were chosen, leaving five alternates for Friday.
Opening arguments are expected to start as soon as Monday.
An additional issue during jury selection was Trump’s behavior, which Judge Juan Merchan described as disruptive. He hinted Trump could face fines or jail for contempt of court.
The judge warned him more than once during the jury selection process that he should cease his “muttering” that could intimidate jurors as well as his social media posts criticizing them.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels while he ran a successful presidential campaign in 2016.
She says the money was intended to buy her silence about a sexual affair she had with Trump. He denies the allegations.
The day started with seven jurors already chosen from a previous day of questioning by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Shortly after the proceedings started, Merchan dismissed two of the seven.
One juror said she was concerned about public disclosure of her identity after friends and family members were able to identify her by descriptions in the news media.
The second juror was dismissed after prosecutors questioned the truthfulness of his answers during voir dire, which refers to attorneys’ questions and answers used to choose who they want on the jury.
The roughly 30-minute voir dire sessions were marked by occasional heated exchanges between the judge and the attorneys.
Part of the discussion touched on old Facebook posts by prospective jurors in which they mentioned Trump or political disputes.
One post said, “Lock him up,” in a reference to Trump.
Another post mentioned by Trump’s lawyers read, “We must … protect the rights of people at risk from this racist, sexist narcissist.”
Both of the prospective jurors who wrote the posts were dismissed by the judge.
One of the jurors who made the final cut was a woman who said she was not a fan of Trump’s “persona” but believed she could treat him fairly.
Trump’s lawyers objected to her selection for the jury but Merchan overruled them, saying, “It doesn’t come down to whether she dislikes your client or not. I preside over trials all the time involving defendants who are not very likable.”
Merchan also mentioned Trump’s posts on his social media site Truth Social as an ongoing problem. Trump is under a court-imposed gag order to stop public denunciations of jurors.
“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make this crystal clear,” Merchan warned Trump and one of his lawyers on Tuesday.
The intimidation allegations continued Thursday when prosecutors accused Trump of violating the gag order seven times since Monday.
If true, violations of the gag order could authorize Merchan to impose fines and possible jail time on Trump after a separate hearing next week.
Just before he adjourned the court for the day, Merchan said, “We have a jury.” He then swore in the already-selected jurors.
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