NEW YORK — Jury selection in Donald Trump ’s hush money case encountered new setbacks Thursday as two previously sworn-in jurors were excused — one for backtracking on whether she could be impartial and fair and the other over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime.
The allegations focus on payoffs to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock. Trump says none of these supposed sexual encounters occurred.
“There’s a reason that this is an anonymous jury,” Merchan had said. “It kind of defeats the purpose of that when so much information is put out there that it is very easy for anyone to identify who the jurors are.”The first prospective juror was an attorney who mentioned having attended the Women’s March and reading a book by former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz.
More than half of the 96 potential jurors in the first group were dismissed after they said they couldn’t be fair and impartial.The status of a second juror seated for Donald Trump’s hush money trial was in limbo Thursday after he failed to report to court to address concerns that some of his answers in court may not have been accurate.
Merchan noted the juror’s apparent “reluctance to come in” and asked both sides if they’d consent to having him removed without further inquiry. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined, saying he wanted to first hear what the man had to say.PROSECUTORS WANT TRUMP SANCTIONED FOR MORE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Trump lawyer Emil Bove said Cohen “has been attacking President Trump in public statements,” and that Trump was just replying.
Merchan admonished the media for reporting details about the jurors that could be used to identify them. While the trial cannot be televised, Judge Juan M. Merchan is allowing a handful of still photographers to shoot photos of Trump before each day’s proceedings start.
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