12 jurors selected for Trump's secret trial

NEW YORK (AP) A 12-person jury was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump's secret trial in New York, and the court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors.

Thursday afternoon's rapid progress brought the case closer to opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case accusing the Republican ex-president of falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life in his final days of the 2016 election.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and several lawyers. The case centers on the $130,000 that Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump faces 34 charges. He denies any wrongdoing.

Earlier in the day, two other jurors were dismissed, one of them after expressing doubts about his ability to be fair following the disclosure of details about his identity. Another juror was dismissed because he was concerned that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.

Separately, prosecutors requested that Trump be held in contempt following a series of social media posts this week, and the judge barred reporters from identifying jurors' employers after expressing concerns about of confidentiality.

The jury selection process accelerated Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors. But on Thursday, Judge Juan Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, an oncology nurse, had indicated that after sleeping on it all night she was concerned about its ability to be fair and impartial in this case.

And although jurors' names remain confidential, the woman told the judge and lawyers she had second thoughts after saying aspects of her identity had been made public.

Just yesterday, friends, colleagues and family members were sending messages to my phone about my identity as a juror being questioned,” she said. “At this point, I do not believe I can be fair and impartial and not allow outside influences to affect my decision-making in the courtroom.

A second juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been honest in answering a jury selection question by saying he had never been charged or convicted of a crime.

The computer scientist was summoned to court to answer questions after prosecutors said they found an article about a person of the same name who was arrested in the 1990s for tearing up political posters relating to the political right in the suburb of 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 the Trump case.

Given that the juror was questioned in the judge's box on Thursday, without a microphone and out of reach of reporters, it is unclear whether the man confirmed or denied that either instance was linked to him.

Twelve jurors and six alternates must be seated to hear the trial. Merchan said Tuesday that opening statements could begin as early as Monday.

AP-NORC POLL: Only 1 in 3 Americans think Trump acted illegally in hush money scandal

The jury selection process is a critical phase of any criminal trial, but particularly so when the defendant is a former president and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. Potential jurors have been questioned about their social media posts, personal lives and political views, while lawyers and judges look for biases that would prevent them from being impartial.

Within the court, it is widely recognized that there is no point in trying to find jurors without knowing Trump. A prosecutor said this week that lawyers aren't looking for people who have been living under the rock for eight years.

But Thursday's events highlighted the challenges inherent in selecting a jury for such a landmark and high-profile case. More than half of a group of 96 potential jurors brought into the courtroom were dismissed Thursday, most after saying they doubted their ability to be fair and impartial.

After excluding from the jury the nurse who had already been selected, Merchan ordered reporters in court not to report potential jurors' responses to questions about their current and former employers.

We probably just lost what probably would have been a very good juror for this case, and the first thing she said was that she was scared and intimidated by the press, all the press and everything that had happened,” Merchan said after dismissing the juror.

Prosecutors had requested that the employers' requests be removed from the jury questionnaire. Defense attorney Todd Blanche responded that depriving us of information because of what the press does is not the solution.

WATCH: Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on the political implications of Trump's first criminal trial

The prosecutor's office on Monday sought a $3,000 fine from Trump for three Truth Social posts that they said violated the order. Since then, prosecutors said he has posted seven additional messages that they say violated the order.

Several of the posts involved an article referring to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a serial perjurer, and a Wednesday article repeated a Fox News host's claim that liberal activists were lying to be part of the jury, prosecutor Christopher Conroy said.

Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, said Cohen attacked President Trump in public statements, and Trump was only responding.

The judge had already scheduled a hearing next week on the request for sanctions for contempt of Trump's publications.

The lawsuit centers on a $130,000 payment Cohen made shortly before the 2016 election to pornographic actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims about a sexual relationship with Trump from being made public in the final days of the race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees.

Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He could face up to four years in prison if convicted, although it is unclear whether the judge would choose to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions involving Trump as he fights to win back the White House, but it is possible it will be the only case to go to trial before November's presidential election.

Appeals and other legal wrangling have led to delays in cases accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election and illegally hoarding classified documents.

Tucker reported from Washington.

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