Trump to return to New York criminal court for jury selection
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[April 16, 2024]
By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial enters a
second day on Tuesday, as lawyers try to select 12 New York City jurors
to consider the guilt or innocence of the first former U.S. president to
face criminal charges.
The first day on Monday underscored the challenges of the task.
Roughly half of 100 potential jurors questioned were dismissed after
saying they could not impartially judge the polarizing
businessman-turned-politician, who is mounting a comeback White House
bid while battling four separate criminal cases.
A New York native who now lives in Florida, Trump was a fixture in the
city's tabloid press for decades before he won the presidency as a
Republican in 2016. But as a politician, he has never been able to count
on the heavily Democratic city for votes.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, has charged Trump
with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a
hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016
election. Daniels says she had a sexual relationship with Trump about a
decade beforehand.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies an encounter took place. To
prove a felony, prosecutors must show that Trump covered up the payment
to conceal a crime like an illegal campaign contribution.
Trump has said that the payment was personal and intended to spare
himself and his family embarrassment.
In other jurisdictions, he stands accused of mishandling classified
information and trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
But the hush-money case may be the only one to go to trial before Trump
faces Biden again in the Nov. 5 election.
If convicted, Trump would still be able to run for office and serve as
president if he won. But a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that half of
independents and a quarter of his fellow Republicans would not vote for
him if he is found guilty.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases and says they
are a plot by Biden's Democrats to neutralize him politically.
Though the New York case is centered on events that took place more than
seven years ago, prosecutors are trying to hold Trump accountable for
more recent conduct as well.
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New York, NY - April 15 : Former President Donald Trump walks out of
the courtroom following the first day of jury selection at the
Manhattan criminal court in New York, NY on Monday, April 15, 2024.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part
of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual
encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign. Jabin Botsford/Pool
via REUTERS/File Photo
On Monday, they asked Justice Juan Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 for
each of three social media posts this month that criticized Daniels
and Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer who is expected to be a
prominent witness in the trial.
Under a gag order imposed by Merchan, Trump is barred from making
statements about witnesses, court staff and family members that are
meant to interfere with the case. Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche said
the former president was only responding to their criticism of him.
Merchan said he will consider the fines on April 23.
NO SUPREME COURT VISIT
Jury selection is expected to consume the rest of the week, and the
trial is scheduled to last through May. Trump is required to be in
court throughout, and on Monday Merchan denied a request for him to
miss a session so he could attend a hearing at the U.S. Supreme
Court, where his lawyers will argue that Trump should not be
prosecuted for actions he took as president.
"He thinks he's superior, I guess, to the Supreme Court. We've got a
real problem with this judge," Trump said after Monday's session.
The 12 jurors selected for the trial, along with six alternates,
will hear testimony from Daniels and Cohen, who has said he made the
payments to buy her silence.
Other expected witnesses include David Pecker, the former publisher
of the National Enquirer tabloid, who prosecutors say ran stories to
boost Trump's 2016 campaign.
Also due up is Karen McDougal, a former nude model for Playboy
magazine who prosecutors say was paid by the National Enquirer to
keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.
(Writing by Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Noeleen Walder
and Howard Goller)
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