Second day of Trump's Hush-Money criminal trial: Takeaways

After the first day of jury selection in Donald J. Trump's criminal trial saw the dismissal of dozens of potential jurors who said they could not be impartial, the first seven jurors were chosen Tuesday before the eyes of the accused.

The choices came after a morning session in which several other potential jurors said they could not be impartial, highlighting the challenges of serving on a panel in Manhattan, a deeply Democratic borough.

Mr. Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying nearly three dozen business records in an attempt to conceal a payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she had a brief sexual relationship with him in 2006.

If convicted, he faces probation or up to four years in prison. Mr. Trump denies being involved with Ms. Daniels and has declared his innocence, calling the charges against him a witch hunt invoked by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, a Democrat.

Here are five takeaways from the second day of Mr. Trump's trial:

We are moving at an unexpected speed.

The trial is expected to last about six weeks, according to Juan M. Merchan, who is overseeing it, and court officials have warned that selecting the 12 jurors and several alternates could take two weeks.

But Judge Merchan, an experienced jurist known for his pragmatic style, moved things along quickly. Before leaving Tuesday, he swore in 96 other potential jurors, who will return Thursday. Wednesday is a day off for the trial, leading to speculation that a full jury will be seated this week.

The seven selected jurors were invited to return Monday. Judge Merchan said if jurors continue to be seated at this rate, closing arguments will likely begin that day.

The prosecution had many questions. The defense basically had one.

Potential jurors answer a series of 42 basic questions, most with subsections, and then attorneys question them directly.

For the prosecution, that meant questioning the rule of law, faulty witnesses and immunity deals, and whether they believed people could be guilty of crimes they helped plan but had not executed. Prosecutors also asked potential jurors about their feelings about Mr. Trump, but insisted they were irrelevant.

This case has nothing to do with your personal politics, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the group.

But the defense team, led by Todd Blanche, was extremely concerned about the prospective jurors' feelings about the former president, asking them again and again: What is your opinion of President Trump?

He wanted to remind the prospective jurors that Mr. Trump was innocent until proven guilty.

He has no responsibility to do anything, Mr. Blanche said.

There's Trump in the room. And then there's Trump out there.

In the darkened Lower Manhattan courtroom, Mr. Trump, a showman and salesman at heart, is not allowed to speak his mind. In fact, he was warned on Monday that excesses would not be tolerated. Unlike other trials he has faced, it has so far not caused any major unrest.

Outside the courtroom, it's a different matter. Mr. Trump has made a habit of speaking to reporters and their cameras, of course in short bursts, disparaging the case and the judges' decisions.

That strategy continued Tuesday morning, when he stopped before entering the courtroom to tell reporters the trial should never have happened. He called Judge Merchan, as he has many times before, a Trump-hating judge.

Mr. Trump has not entirely avoided moments of bluster in the courtroom. After Mr. Blanche asked a potential juror about a video on her social media feed suggesting she supported President Biden, Mr. Trump muttered something under his breath.

Judge Merchan was angry.

I will not let any juror be intimidated in this courtroom, the judge said.

Jurors say a lot about themselves. May be too much.

Last month, Judge Merchan ruled that the names of potential jurors would be withheld from the public.

Yet several provided potentially identifiable information, including the names of their employers. One of them, a municipal employee, revealed her agency. One revealed the name of the three-person business she owns with her husband.

In his March 7 order establishing limited anonymity, Judge Merchan said it would prevent bribery or harassment of jurors. But some potential jurors revealed sensitive information themselves, without any intervention from the judge.

There is occasional laughter.

Lawyers and jury experts say jury selection is one of the most critical elements of any trial, let alone the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. The mood in Judge Merchan's courtroom on Tuesday was tense, as attorneys for both sides searched for potential biases or facts that might help them.

But there were still humorous moments. When asked if she knew anyone in the legal field, one prospective juror responded that she had been dating an attorney for some time.

She then paused, before adding: It ended well.

Another potential juror, a Lower East Side resident, drew laughter with his very New York response to a question about how he spent his free time.

I don't have any free time, he said.

And when a potential juror asked whether his planned September wedding might be a conflict, Judge Merchan smiled.

If we were sitting in September, he said. That would be a real problem.

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