On Tuesday, the first seven people to decide if Donald Trump broke the law by paying hush money were chosen. Lawyers asked them questions about their social media, politics, and personal lives to make sure they can be fair to Trump.
The people chosen for the panel are an IT worker, an English teacher, a nurse who works with cancer patients, a salesperson, a software engineer, and two lawyers.
Eleven more people need to promise to tell the truth before the trial can start next week. It is the first trial of a former president. This is a crucial time for Trump. He has been trying to delay his court cases until after the November election and says that he is being treated unfairly by the justice system for political reasons.
The trial is making Trump’s legal problems the focus of his close election race against President Joe Biden. This is the first of four cases against Trump that will go to trial. It might be the only one where a decision is made before people vote for the Republican presidential nominee.
The careful process happening in a Manhattan courtroom shows how hard it is to find fair judges for the controversial defendant in the city where he built his real estate empire before becoming president in 2016. However, picking the jury happened faster than expected on Tuesday afternoon. It was supposed to start again on Thursday.
After leaving the courthouse, Trump stopped in the hallway to talk to reporters about the case. He said Judge Juan Merchan was rushing the trial. He says he didn’t do anything wrong.
Trump said that we will keep fighting against this judge. He tried to have the judge removed from the case, but he was not successful.
Later on Tuesday, Trump went to a store in Harlem. Someone asked him what he thought about the people who were deciding his case. He said it was too soon to know for sure, and we will have to wait and see what happens.
In the past two days, lots of possible jurors were let go because they said they couldn’t be fair or because they had other plans. Trump’s lawyers questioned a few people about their social media posts, and one person was let go because of a post from 2017 that said “Lock him up. ”
Some potential jurors told the judge that they thought they could make a fair decision in the case, regardless of their opinions about Trump or his policies as president.
Trump watched in the courtroom while potential jurors, whose names are only known to the prosecutors, Trump, and their legal teams, talked about their lives and opinions of him. The judge scolded Trump for talking loudly and using big hand gestures while the judge asked a lady about a post on social media.
“I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I could hear his voice and he was using his hands to communicate. ” “He was talking to the jury,” Merchan said. I won’t put up with that. I won’t allow anyone to scare the jurors in this courtroom.
Lawyer Joshua Steinglass challenged Trump’s reputation directly, telling potential jurors that they didn’t have to be completely unaware of recent events. They just needed to be open-minded.
This situation is not about your own political beliefs. It’s not about judging President Trump or trying to see who you will vote for in November. We are not concerned. This is about whether the man did something against the law.
Trump says he didn’t do the bad things he’s accused of. They say he lied about his business records to hide embarrassing stories about his sex life during his 2016 campaign.
The trial is going to go on for six weeks or longer. Some people in the jury might have plans for Memorial Day and after that.
A man was let go because he was worried he couldn’t be fair. He thought his past and job might make him automatically favor certain people.
“I’m not sure I can be fair,” another person told the judge. “I will give it a shot. ” “But I’m not completely sure I can be fair. ” She was also fired.
A person picked for the jury said they think Trump is interesting and that he always makes people feel strongly when he enters a room.
Another woman said she doesn’t like what Trump does and gets annoyed with him sometimes. However, she promised to be fair and unbiased. She told the defence lawyer that she would do her best to make a fair decision if she was chosen for the jury.
“I couldn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about if I could do that,” she said.
Trump smiled and nodded big when one person said he read two of the former president’s books, “The Art of the Deal” and “How to Get Rich. ” The man, who said some of his wife’s family members work for the Republican Party, said he didn’t think there was anything that would stop him from looking at the case fairly.
“He said that everyone should follow the law. ”
The charges are about Trump’s company paying $130,000 to his lawyer, Michael Cohen. He gave money to stop Stormy Daniels from telling everyone about her time with Trump. Trump said that the meeting never happened.
Prosecutors say that the money given to Cohen was recorded as legal fees, but it wasn’t true. The prosecutors said the money was part of a plan to hide harmful information.