- Written by Madeline Halpert & Kayla Epstein
- BBC News, New York
Donald Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial began with half of the potential jurors removed within minutes on grounds of fairness.
Trump has denied falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Sixty of the 96 potential jurors immediately said in the New York courtroom that they were not being impartial.
Those who remained were then asked several questions, including about their news and book reading habits.
“I couldn’t do it,” one prospective juror could be heard saying as he entered court Monday.
The rejection showed how difficult it is to find 12 impartial jurors in a case involving a high-profile sex scandal that has the former president running for the White House again.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will pay Daniels $130,000 (£104,000) in exchange for her keeping quiet about allegations of sexual contact between Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen, which the former president denies. He claims that he instructed him to do so.
Prosecutors claim he did so to “unlawfully influence” the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence.
Jury selection began in the afternoon. The judge first dismissed the jurors who raised their hands saying it wasn’t fair, leaving about 34 jurors.
Those left behind were then exposed to 42 questions in a jury questionnaire, including questions about their news-reading habits, whether they had ever attended a Trump rally and whether they had read the former president’s books.
Eighteen people were randomly placed in jury seats and completed a questionnaire one at a time.
One man who lives in midtown Manhattan said he reads the Wall Street Journal. Another Upper West Side resident said his radio habits included listening to what was playing while he was taking a shower. He later clarified that he was referring to NPR.
Neither was immediately fired.
One woman asked, “Do you have strong opinions or firm beliefs about former President Donald Trump or the fact that he is a current presidential candidate that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?” he asked.
She simply said “yes” and was fired, but Trump’s team initially opposed her immunity for unexplained reasons.
Due to the high-profile nature of the case, all jurors will remain anonymous, but Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors will know their identities.
The defendant remained silent during the day, speaking to his lawyers in a whisper while maintaining a stern expression. Throughout the morning, he answered “yes” to all questions asked by New York State Judge Juan Marchan what actions he would be required to take in the courtroom.
But outside court, Trump called the trial “nonsense” and an “attack on America.”
Trump’s public statements about the incident were the subject of several minutes of argument in court this morning.
Prosecutors argued that some of Trump’s posts on the social media site Truth Social violated a gag order that Judge Marchand had imposed on him. The order prohibits Trump from publicly commenting on anyone involved in the case, including potential witnesses.
The order was extended to the relatives of Judge Marchand after Trump attacked her daughter on social media.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked Judge Marchand to fine Mr Trump a total of $3,000 (£2,400) for his three posts. That includes a post on Saturday that called former attorney and future trial witness Michael Cohen a “disgraced lawyer and felon.”
The judge set a hearing date for April 24 to issue the verdict.
The judge spent the morning deciding what evidence would be admissible in court.
There was a fierce battle between the defense and prosecutors over the leaked audio of Trump just before the 2016 election. In footage taken from a recording of NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” Trump talks about grabbing women by their genitals.
Prosecutors asked to include records of a series of emails between Trump campaign officials and the Washington Post reporter who reported the Access Hollywood story. This included tape transfers.
The judge said the emails would be allowed if they were “properly configured,” despite objections from Trump’s lawyers.
Throughout the day, Trump was cheered by dozens of people who rallied peacefully but loudly outside the courthouse.
They included a man who played the Star-Spangled Banner on his flute for hours and a man who impersonated Trump in a blonde wig and red tie.
Some were clearly less enthusiastic about the former president. One held a banner that read, “Convict Trump Already.”
The hush money trial is just one of four criminal cases facing the former president. But he could be the only one to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, a rematch between Republican Trump and Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
If convicted, Trump would be the first major party candidate to run for president as a convicted felon. There is no law preventing him from doing so.
Judge Marchand also denied a defense request for Trump to be excused from next Thursday’s trial so he could attend Supreme Court arguments on an immunity claim he brought in another criminal case.
“Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal,” Justice Machan said, adding, “A trial before the New York Supreme Court…is also a big deal. We’ll be meeting here next week.”
