This week, the former president’s criminal hush-money case began to choose a jury. It looked like the former president would be up against a tough group of people. Judge Juan Merchan asked the first group of 96 potential jurors if any of them thought they couldn’t be fair and neutral. More than 50 people raised their hands.
Even though these potential jurors weren’t needed for the case, it still might have hurt the real estate mogul who became a TV star and then became America’s 45th president. Trump was born and raised in New York, but it seems like the people there didn’t want to live there with him because he’s so divisive.
As jury selection has gone on this week, it has been a strange show, maybe even more so for a man who used to be the most powerful person in the world (and might be again). People in New York were asked what they thought about Trump and America, and he had to sit there and listen. The answers have been split up.
One possible judge did show up on Trump’s radar on Tuesday morning. To answer question 36 of the selection form, “The defendant in this case has written a number of books,” At least one of these books have you read or listened to? “Yes,” I said. “If so, which ones?”
He paused and said, “I read The Art of the Deal and I want to say How to be Rich and Think Like a Champion.” He wasn’t sure if this was the right title. Say, “Is that right?” Trump gave a smile and a nod of his head.
Before the first group of potential jurors was chosen, both the prosecution and the defense had a chance to ask the people who were still in the running. A lot of funny jokes and strange conversations followed.
“Resist the urge to flee the courtroom,” lawyer Joshua Steinglass told people who were trying to be jurors in Trump’s trial. He told them not to think too much about why they were chosen.
“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics,” Steinglass told people who might be on the jury. “It’s not a vote on Trump’s presidency, a popularity contest, or a sign of who you plan to vote for in November.” It doesn’t bother us.
“This case is about whether or not this man broke the law.”
She then asked the people who wanted to be jurors if they had a problem with their theory of the case, which was called “accessory liability.” In other words, “if two or more people act together, they can all be charged with a crime. Would anyone have a problem holding the defendant responsible for something his partner did?”
Steinglass used the figure of speech “let’s say a husband hires a hitman to kill his wife.” Should they have any trouble finding the husband criminally guilty for her death, even if he is not there when the murder is done by a hitman?
Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, asked possible jurors his own questions, which basically came down to one question: what do you think of Donald Trump?
Some possible voters didn’t seem eager to give their opinion, while others didn’t seem too bothered by what the former commander-in-chief was doing. “I find him interesting. When he goes into a room, he either calms people down or makes them angry. I find that very interesting. “Really, this one guy can do all of this?” someone asked.
“Uh, okay,” Blanche said, and then she thanked him.
One possible juror tried over and over to keep his opinion of Trump a secret. In a bar, I’d be happy to tell you how I feel about President Trump, but in this room, it has nothing to do with either the case you’re making or the case you’re defending.”
He finally gave in after being pushed several times: “Look, I’ll say I’m a Democrat, so there you go, that’s where it goes with me.” But he insisted, “I walk in here and he’s a defendant.”
One woman liked how cocky Trump was. “He says what he thinks.” What else are you going to say about that?” Trump gave a smile.
“He says what he wants to say,” she went on. “I have something to say, but my mom told me to be nice.”
Another person said something similar. “To be honest, I don’t really care about the views,” but “President Trump says what he thinks.” She said she would rather have that than a leader who didn’t do it.
Later that afternoon, Merchan told Trump not to scare the jury in court. Merchan said that Trump could be “heard” when a possible jury was called to the stand to answer questions.
“I could hear it. His hands were moving and he was talking to the jury, Merchan said.
Merchan said, “I will not have any jurors scared in this courtroom.” “Talk to your client for a moment.”
Even with this problem, Tuesday afternoon looked like things would go smoothly. Seven jurors were chosen at the end of the day.
