Irishman selected to lead secret jury in Trump trial

Ex-president in court over payments to porn star

AN IRISHMAN who moved to the US has been selected as the jury foreman in Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal trial into hush money he allegedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

While the identity of the Irishman has not been disclosed, details about his life have been released, such as that he has no children, is an ‘outdoorsy type’ and gets his news from MSNBC, Fox News and the Daily Mail.

As jury selection continued yesterday, the judge warned lawyers that he would not tolerate any efforts to intimidate prospective jurors after saying Mr Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the November election, was audibly muttering while one of the possible members of the panel was questioned.

Mr Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to

A ‘partisan witch-hunt’

cover up an alleged hush-money payment to porn star Ms Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Ms Daniels, 45, says she had a sexual encounter with Mr Trump about a decade beforehand.

Mr Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty and denies an encounter took place. He has called the case, brought by Democratic Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, a partisan ‘witchhunt’ meant to interfere with his campaign to unseat Democratic president Joe Biden.

The hush-money case is one of four criminal prosecutions Mr Trump faces, which also stem from efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and alleged mishandling of classified information.

He has also pleaded not guilty to those charges, though the other three cases may not go to trial before the election.

While further details about the foreman were not revealed, more information regarding the panel of jurors selected was released.

They include a woman who works as an oncology nurse and enjoys taking her dog to the park, and a corporate lawyer who said he does not follow the news that closely. During questioning by Mr Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche on Tuesday, the nurse said she did not have a strong opinion about Mr Trump. However, she said ‘no one is above the law’.

Jury selection began on Monday, and is set to resume today after a day off yesterday.

New York Supreme Court judge Juan Merchan said opening statements could take place next Monday but warned that this could be delayed.

The process in the case so far has highlighted the challenges of choosing a group of impartial jurors from heavily Democratic Manhattan. More than half the initial pool of 96 jurors called were dismissed on Monday after saying they did not believe they could be fair.

In questioning some who remained on Tuesday, Mr Blanche said he did not care about jurors’ politics but wanted to get a sense of whether they could be fair to Mr Trump as an individual.

‘It’s extraordinarily important to President Trump that we know that we’re going to get a fair shake,’ the attorney said.

The jurors are anonymous except to Mr Trump and lawyers for both sides. Several prospective jurors said they did not have strong opinions about Mr Trump, or that their opinions were not relevant to the case.

‘If we were sitting in a bar, I’d be happy to tell you,’ said one jury candidate, a man who works at a bookstore and enjoys going to Broadway shows. ‘But, in this room, what I feel about President Trump is not important.’ This juror was dismissed.

In questioning jurors on Tuesday,

Manhattan assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass said the case was not a referendum on Mr Trump’s presidency.

‘This case is really not about whether you like Donald Trump,’ Mr Steinglass said. ‘This case is about the rule of law and whether Donald Trump broke it.’

With jurors outside the courtroom, Judge Merchan told lawyers for both sides that Mr Trump had been audibly muttering and gesturing while one prospective juror was being questioned.

The judge told Trump lawyer Mr Blanche to speak to his client about his behaviour.

‘I won’t tolerate that,’ the judge said. ‘I will not have any jurors intimidated in the courtroom.’

Mr Trump has routinely tested judges’ tolerance during his recent legal woes, and is currently subject to a gag order imposed by Judge Merchan.

‘I will not have any jurors intimidated’