Jean MartinThe first seven jurors for Donald Trump’s hush money trial were seated Tuesday after lawyers grilled the jury pool about their social media posts, political views, and personal lives to decide who can sit in fair judgment of the former president.
The panelists who were selected are:
- An information technology worker.
- An English teacher.
- An oncology nurse.
- A sales professional.
- A software engineer.
- Two lawyers.
Remaining Jury Members:
Eleven more people must be sworn in before opening statements begin as early as next week in the first criminal trial of a former commander-in-chief.
It’s a moment of reckoning for Trump, who has tried to put off his prosecutions until after the November election and casts himself as the victim of a politically motivated justice system.
The trial puts Trump’s legal problems at the center of his closely contested race against President Joe Biden. It’s the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to reach trial, and it may be the only one to return a verdict before voters decide whether to elect the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Challenges of Jury Selection:
The systematic process unfolding in the Manhattan courtroom highlights the unprecedented challenge of finding people who can fairly judge the polarizing defendant in the city where he built his real estate empire before becoming president in 2016.
Trump expressed his discontent with the trial to reporters, accusing the judge of “rushing” the prosecution and vowing to continue fighting against the judge.
Jury Selection Process:
Some potential jurors have been excused due to their inability to be impartial or prior commitments. Trump’s lawyers challenged some individuals over social media posts, and one person was dismissed over a 2017 post about Trump.
Prosecutors addressed Trump’s notoriety, emphasizing that the case concerns whether Trump broke the law, not personal politics or opinions about his presidency.
Trump’s Legal Situation:
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony totals of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign.
The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Prosecutors’ Request:
Prosecutors urged the judge to fine Trump $3,000 over social media posts, violating a gag order limiting what he can say publicly about witnesses.
If convicted of falsifying business records, Trump faces up to four years in prison, although there’s no guarantee he will get time behind bars.
