Trump’s trial update: Ex-president seeks uncommon direct contact with jurors
The first day of Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan involved the selection of an impartial jury. Trump faces 34 charges related to alleged falsification of business records to conceal payments to Stormy Daniels. Despite restrictions on courtroom visuals, updates were rapidly shared. Trump was present throughout, showed confidence, and expressed frustrations. Notable highlights include a request for face-to-face interaction with prospective jurors and issues regarding a gag order violation. So far, nine qualified potential jurors have been chosen.
The first day of the highly anticipated hush money trial for Donald Trump got underway in Manhattan on Monday, beginning the thorny process of finding an impartial jury to sit on a trial for the first former president indicted on criminal charges.
Trump made his way to the New York County Criminal Court on Monday morning where he is facing 34 criminal charges for allegedly falsifying business records, an alleged effort to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair she claims he had with her in 2006. The night before may have been sleepless for the former president, who at times could be seen with his eyes closed during the first full day in court.
Although no video or cameras were permitted inside the courtroom during the proceedings, information about the trial was able to be relayed near-instantaneously with the help of reporters inside the courtroom. While the only words Trump could be heard speaking were mostly muttered to his attorneys, he frequently spoke to the camera outside the courtroom and offered bystanders a thumbs-up when asked how he was doing.
Unlike the former president’s previous jury trial in the defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, Trump won’t be allowed to ditch the court throughout the multiweek event.
“If you read all of the legal pundits, all of the legal scholars today, there’s not one that I see that said this is a case that should be brought for a trial. It’s a scam,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon while lamenting he couldn’t be campaigning and was forced to miss his son Barron’s high school graduation.
Other times throughout the day, Trump closed his eyes as New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan worked his way through the jury poll and asked up to 42 questions of each potential juror. Following an afternoon recess, members of the press debated in online channels about whether Trump at one point was dozing off or merely resting his eyes.
Here are the top takeaways from the historic first day in court:
Prosecutors want to fine Trump $3,000 for gag order violation
Upon his arrival to the courthouse at 9:30, Trump decried the entire trial as an “assault on America” and used his Truth Social media account to criticize potential witnesses.
Trump’s recent attacks on his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, a key witness to the prosecution, became a focus of the first hours of the trial on Monday morning. Prosecutors asked Merchan to hold Trump in contempt and fine him $3,000 for violating the gag order. They also asked to use the attacks as evidence in the actual trial if Trump seeks to discredit Cohen’s testimony.
Merchan established there would be an April 23 hearing to determine if Trump violated a gag order against attacking people involved in the trial.
Trump wants to get face to face with prospective jurors
Trump is currently undergoing the jury selection process that could take up to two weeks, though it’s the first and arguably the most important part of the nearly two-month trial ahead.
Because of this, Trump made the unusual request through his attorneys to be up close and personal with potential jurors for sidebar questioning. Merchan noted the process could get awkward for a multitude of reasons, noting Trump’s Secret Service detail would also be following along throughout the process.
Criminal defendants in New York are permitted to participate in sidebars because the state has long recognized so-called Antommarchi rights. Trump has the right to be present during all stages of relevant questions presented to prospective jurors, including when a judge has a sidebar to discuss a private matter with a potential juror, so that he can even see their facial reactions to the discussions.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the judge his client “wants to be present at everything.”
Nine qualified potential jurors have been selected
The first day resulted in nine qualified potential jurors being selected, which marks about a quarter of the total number of people who must be deemed qualified to serve on the jury based on a detailed questionnaire that asks questions including what type of news they consume and whether they’ve ever been associated with the “QAnon movement” or if they have ever joined an “Anti-Trump group.”
Ultimately, the field of jurors needs to be narrowed down to 12 jurors and six alternates, and the court is expected to begin vetting around 100 potential jurors at a time in the courtroom.
Merchan spent the morning housekeeping and fielding motions
Meanwhile, Merchan reaffirmed his previous ruling that Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood tape could not be used by prosecutors, but the transcript of the audio is allowed to be read.
The strategy behind prosecutors using the transcript would be to show a jury evidence of Trump’s rhetoric about women and why he might need to pay a woman like Daniels or former Playboy model Karen McDougal to stay quiet about an alleged affair.
Merchan also denied a request from the defense team for him to recuse himself from the case and issued a warning to Trump against violating his gag order, which also covers the judge’s family.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trump has gone after the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, for her work at Authentic Campaigns, a Chicago-based progressive firm that rakes in millions of dollars from top clients, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the Senate Majority PAC, a major Democratic fundraising arm.
Once the jury pool left the courtroom Monday afternoon, Merchan rejected a request by Trump to be excused from the New York trial so he could attend April 25 oral arguments on the immunity claim he has raised in another one of his criminal cases, the federal indictment over an alleged attempt to subvert the 2020 election results.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
