Jury selection starts at Trump’s landmark criminal trial
Trump was indicted in March 2023 over the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels
Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial opened Monday in a historic first for a US ex-president with the tortuous process of selecting 12 jurors resuming Tuesday.
The selection of jurors could go on as long as two weeks, according to one of Trump’s lawyers defending him in the hush money case he called a sham and political witch hunt.
Would-be jurors are answering a detailed questionnaire including checks on whether they have been members of far-right groups associated with Trump.
The actual charges, however, revolve around highly technical finance laws.
Trump was indicted in March 2023 over the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, with the ex-president charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump denies the charges and says the encounter with Clifford and another with a Playboy nude model, whose story he also allegedly covered up, did not happen.
Trump’s other three criminal cases all face multiple delays.
Of the first batch of 96 prospective panelists sworn in, at least 50 were quickly excused after they said they could not be fair and impartial in a case involving one of the most famous — and controversial — men in the world.
Nine others were allowed to leave after stating there were compelling reasons they could not serve, while remaining prospective jurors were grilled about their education, hobbies and news consumption.
Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan issued the routine warning for criminal defendants that he will have to attend proceedings in the gritty Manhattan courthouse daily — or face arrest.
Merchan also warned Trump against repeating his frequent past attempts to disrupt hearings with incendiary social media posts and courtroom outbursts.
The judge scheduled a hearing next week to consider whether Trump should already be held in contempt for violating a partial gag order restricting him from attacking individuals connected to the case.
Merchan also indicated opposition to allowing Trump to be out of court next Thursday, when the US Supreme Court will hear his claims of presidential immunity in another, unrelated case.
“It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt,” Trump said leaving court Monday. “We’ve got a real problem with this judge.”
The Republican presidential candidate is accused of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up an alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Daniels to shield his first election campaign, in 2016, from last-minute upheaval.
He faces three other criminal cases centered on his hoarding of top-secret documents after leaving office and his unprecedented attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.