A group of 12 individuals was chosen on Thursday to serve as the jury in the historic hush money trial of former President Donald Trump, bringing the trial closer to the start of opening statements and weeks of dramatic testimony.
Following the seating of the jury, the court swiftly moved on to the selection of alternate jurors, with the process expected to conclude by the end of the week. Prosecutors may start presenting their case early next week.
The jury, comprised of New Yorkers, includes a variety of professionals such as a salesperson, a software engineer, a security engineer, an English teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker, and a retired wealth manager.
The trial, which marks the first-ever case involving a former American president, is taking place amidst the current presidential race. This means the presumptive Republican nominee will be facing salacious and unflattering testimony about his personal life while simultaneously campaigning to reclaim the office he previously held for four years.
Despite the legal jeopardy he faces, which is already a central issue in the race against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, Trump has expressed his determination to use it to his advantage. Following a full day of jury selection, he complained to reporters about being in court instead of campaigning, referring to the trial as “very unfair.”
He stated, “Everybody’s outraged by it. You know the whole world’s watching this New York scam.”
The process of jury selection faced delays on Thursday as two jurors were dismissed, one of whom expressed doubt about her ability to be impartial after details about her identity were revealed, and the other due to concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.
However, the lawyers were able to swiftly select the remaining seven jurors and one alternate, after starting the day with only five jurors. Judge Juan Merchan aims to have six alternates for the trial.
The selection process for the jury is a crucial phase in any criminal trial, particularly when the defendant is a former president and the presumptive Republican nominee. Prospective jurors have been extensively questioned about their social media activity, personal lives, and political views in order to identify any bias that could compromise their impartiality.
It is widely recognized within the court that it is unrealistic to find jurors who are unaware of Trump. A prosecutor remarked this week that they were not seeking individuals who had been “living under a rock for the past eight years.”
In line with this, many jurors chosen for the panel openly admitted to having personal opinions about Trump or his presidency.
For instance, one juror, an individual working in investment banking, previously described himself as “ambivalent” about Trump, stating, “I might not like some of his policies, but there has been some good for the country.
Another juror who was selected mentioned that she perceived Trump as “very selfish and self-serving,” adding, “I don’t really appreciate that from any public servant.” Defense lawyers had used up all of their peremptory strikes, which allow them to dismiss a juror without providing a reason.
A woman chosen for the jury shared her opinion that Trump appeared “very selfish and self-serving,” and added, “I don’t really appreciate that from any public servant.” The defense lawyers had exhausted their peremptory strikes, which allow them to dismiss a juror without explanation.
The case
The trial is about a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s previous lawyer and personal fixer, gave to porn actor Stormy Daniels to stop her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.
Prosecutors claim that Trump hid the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who admitted guilt to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.
Trump is accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could face up to four years in prison if found guilty, although it’s not certain that the judge would choose to imprison him. Trump would almost certainly challenge any conviction.
Trump is involved in four criminal cases, but it’s uncertain if any others will go to trial before the November election. Delays in the other three cases, which charge Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and illegally hoarding classified documents, have been caused by appeals and legal disputes.
Seated jurors dismissed
The process of choosing jurors gained momentum Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors. However, on Thursday, Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, a cancer nurse, had expressed concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case after sleeping on it overnight.
And though jurors’ identities are confidential, the woman informed the judge and the lawyers that she had doubts after aspects of her identity had been made public.
“Yesterday alone I had friends, colleagues, and family send things to my phone questioning my identity as a juror,” she said. “At this point, I don’t believe that I can be fair and unbiased and not let outside influences affect my decision making in the courtroom.”
A second juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been truthful in answering a jury selection question by claiming that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.
The IT professional was summoned to court to answer questions after prosecutors found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters related to the political right in suburban Westchester County.
A prosecutor also revealed that a relative of the man may have been involved in a deferred prosecution agreement in the 1990s with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.
Because the juror was questioned Thursday at the judge’s bench, off-microphone and out of earshot of reporters, it was not known whether the man confirmed or denied that either instance was connected to him.
After removing the nurse who had already been selected as a juror, Merchan instructed journalists in court not to report prospective jurors’ responses to questions about their current and former employers.
“We just lost, probably, what probably would have been a very good juror for this case, and the first thing that she said was she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press, and everything that had happened,” Merchan said.
Other news
Additionally, prosecutors have requested that Trump be held in contempt for a series of social media posts made this week.
The district attorney’s office is seeking a $3,000 fine for Trump due to three Truth Social posts that reportedly violated the order. Prosecutors further claimed that he made seven more posts since then that they believe also violate the order.
Some of the posts discussed an article labeling former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a “serial perjurer,” and one from Wednesday repeated a claim by a Fox News host that liberal activists were lying to get on the jury, according to prosecutor Christopher Conroy.
Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, stated that Cohen had been publicly attacking President Trump, and Trump was simply responding.
The judge has already scheduled a hearing for next week regarding the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over Trump’s posts.
