Trump's silent trial: more potential jurors dismissed on second day

NEW YORK (AP) More potential jurors were dismissed Tuesday from Donald Trump's hush money case as lawyers worked for a second day to find a panel of New Yorkers to decide whether the Republican would become the first former president convicted of a crime.

Potential jurors were questioned for hours about their opinions on Trump and other issues, and eight people were excused after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments. Several people said they believed they could decide the case fairly, regardless of their feelings about Trump or his policies as president.

What you need to know about Trump's secret trial:

No jurors had been chosen as of midday Tuesday and dozens more people could still be questioned.

The methodical process, which could take several more days or even weeks, highlights the unprecedented challenge of finding people who can fairly judge the polarizing defendant, who has presented himself as a victim of political persecution while he is fighting to win back the White House.

The first day of Donald Trump's historic secret trial ended Monday after hours of pretrial motions and an early jury selection process that saw dozens of potential jurors excused after saying they could not be fair or impartial.

The trial, which began Monday, puts Trump's legal troubles at the center of the hotly contested race against President Joe Biden. It also represents a major test for the criminal justice system, as the allegations are viewed through a partisan lens and Trump's attacks on prosecutors and the judge threaten to undermine public confidence in the courts.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass took Trump's notoriety head on, telling prospective jurors that lawyers weren't looking for people who had been living under a rock for eight years. They just had to keep an open mind.

This matter has nothing to do with your personal politics, it is not a referendum on the Trump presidency or a popularity contest or who you are going to vote for in November. We don't care. This case is about whether this man broke the law, he said.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in an alleged effort to keep salacious and, he says, false stories about his sex life that emerged during his campaign from 2016.

It's the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial, and it may be the only one to reach a verdict before voters decide in November whether to elect the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Before entering the courtroom, Trump briefly stopped to speak to a television camera in the hallway, repeating his assertion that the judge was biased against him and that the case was politically motivated .

This is a trial that should never have happened, Trump said. After entering, reporters saw him wink at one of the court officials and say: How are you? as he walked down the aisle. Trump then took a seat at the defense table with his lawyers.

With the trial expected to last six weeks or more, several members of the jury discussed their plans for Memorial Day and beyond. A parent was excused Monday due to a child's wedding in late June. Another person was fired Tuesday because of a trip they had planned.

A man was excused after saying he feared his ability to be impartial was compromised by unconscious bias due to growing up in Texas and working in finance with people who intellectually tended to be Republican .

I'm not sure I can say beyond a reasonable doubt that I can be fair, another potential juror told the judge. I can try. But I'm not 100% sure I can be fair. She was also fired.

A woman who said she disagreed with Trump's policies and sometimes felt frustrated by him pledged to be fair and impartial, telling defense attorney Todd Blanche that she would do her best if chosen to be on the jury.

I didn't sleep last night thinking I could do this, she said.

After another juror said she would not be able to serve impartially, Trump twisted in his chair, looking toward the box. During the first minutes of the day, he seemed generally attentive, taking notes and raising sheets of paper to his face as jurors rattled off answers to a lengthy questionnaire.

Former President Donald Trump waits for the start of proceedings during the second day of jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Justin Lane/Pool photo via AP)

Trump broke into a smile, nodding exaggeratedly, when another person said he had read two of the former president's books, The Art of the Deal and How to Get Rich. The man, who said some members of his wife's family were Republican Party lobbyists, said he didn't think anything would stop him from reviewing the matter fairly.

I don't think anyone is above the law, he said.

The charges relate to $130,000 in payments Trump's company made to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. He paid this sum on behalf of Trump to prevent porn actress Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual relationship with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied that this meeting ever took place.

Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely recorded as legal fees. Prosecutors described the money as part of a plan to bury damaging stories that Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, especially as Trump's reputation was suffering at the time of his comments about women.

Trump acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was intended to prevent Daniels from going public with the alleged encounter. But Trump has already said it had nothing to do with the campaign.

More than half of the 96 people making up the first panel of potential jurors brought into the courtroom Monday were excused after telling the judge they could not be fair and impartial, and several others were dismissed for other reasons which have not been disclosed.

In court papers filed Tuesday, prosecutors urged the judge to fine Trump $3,000 for social media posts that they said violated a silence order limiting what he can say publicly about the witnesses. In these messages, Trump called Cohen and Daniels two sleazeballs who, with their lies and misrepresentations, have cost our country dearly!

Prosecutors wrote that the judge should urge Trump to comply with the silence order and warn him that further violations could be punished not only by additional fines but also by prison time.

If convicted of falsifying business records, Trump faces up to four years in prison, although there is no guarantee he will spend time behind bars.

Trump's cases involving allegations of election interference and hoarding classified documents could lead to lengthy prison sentences, but those cases are tied to appeals or other issues that make it increasingly unlikely they will be decided before the elections.

And if Trump wins in November, he could presumably order a new attorney general to close his federal cases.

___

Richer reported from Washington.

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