Trump hush money trial: Juror who felt intimidated is excused, says judge

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A juror was excused on Thursday from Donald Trump’s criminal trial after saying she felt intimidated because some aspects of her identity had been made public, the judge overseeing the case said.

The juror told the court that family, friends and colleagues had contacted her after deducing through press accounts that she was on the jury.

“I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased, and let the outside influences not affect my decision-making in the courtroom,” said the juror, who had been one of seven selected earlier this week.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, told news outlets not to report where prospective jurors said they worked.

“We just lost what probably would have been a very good juror,” Merchan said.

Six jurors remained.

The decision highlighted the extraordinary pressures around the first criminal trial ever of a former US president. Trump has pleaded not guilty in this case and in three other criminal cases against him in Washington, Georgia and Florida.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, says, without providing evidence, that all four criminal cases are part of a broad-ranging effort by allies of Democratic President Joe Biden to hobble his candidacy.

Trump has criticized witnesses, the judge and prosecutors involved in the New York case and their relatives, prompting Merchan to impose a partial gag order on him. The judge has also directed that jurors’ identities remain private.

Prosecutors say Trump has violated the gag order seven times over the past week, and have asked Merchan to impose fines or other penalties.

On Thursday, prosecutor Christopher Conroy pointed to posts about former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who is expected to be a star prosecution witness in the trial, and a post saying undercover liberal activists had been lying to the judge to try to get on the jury.

One of Trump’s lawyers, Emil Bove, said those posts “do not establish any willful violations” of the gag order.

Trump is a divisive figure in US politics, and half of the 96 potential jurors called on Thursday in heavily Democratic Manhattan were dismissed after saying they would not be capable of assessing his guilt or innocence. A similar number were dismissed for that reason on Monday.

Prosecutors on Thursday flagged a potential problem with one of the six jurors who have already been selected, saying a person with that name had been arrested for tearing down political advertisements in the 1990s. That juror’s wife was also involved in a corruption inquiry during that time, they said.

Merchan said he had asked that juror to return to court for further questioning.

Trump is on trial on 34 felony counts brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for allegedly falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

The trial began on Monday. Jurors selected so far include a software engineer and two corporate lawyers. The judge has said the identities of the 12 jurors and six alternates will remain anonymous except to Trump, his lawyers and prosecutors.

Opening statements could take place on Monday if the full jury is seated this week.

A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from office, but half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for him if he were convicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on April 8.

The same poll found that 64% of registered voters thought the hush money charges were at least “somewhat serious.”

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. The New York trial could be the only one he faces before the election. A conviction would not bar Trump from running for or taking office

Trial dates have not yet been set for the cases in Georgia and Washington that charge him with trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, and another case in Florida that charges him with mishandling classified documents.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow