(UnitedVoice.com) – History is being made in New York City, where an American president is on trial for criminal charges for the first time. Former President Donald Trump is being tried for multiple felonies related to alleged financial crimes. However, jury selection has gotten off to a rocky start.
On Monday, April 15, the New York trial against Trump began in a Manhattan courtroom. The jury selection process began. The former president’s legal team previously tried to move the case out of the city, arguing that he could not receive a fair trial there, but those efforts were unsuccessful. On the first day, 50 of the 96 potential jurors were dismissed because they said they couldn’t be impartial.
The following day, the seven jurors were sat on the panel. Five more were needed for the full jury and six alternates also had to be picked. The former president’s attorneys dug through the juror’s social media accounts and tried to figure out if any of them were “anti-Trump.” Several of them had to sit for extra questioning by the defense team, which was trying to have jurors dismissed for cause so they would not have to use one of their 10 strikes.
Judge Juan Merchan admonished Trump during the defense’s questioning of the first juror. The judge said the former president was making gestures and audibly speaking in the juror’s direction. Merchan told Trump, “I will not have any jurors intimidated in the courtroom.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged the former US leader with 34 counts of falsifying business records. He’s accused of doing it to try to cover up a payment to two women whom he allegedly had affairs with, including Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford. The payments were to keep them quiet about the alleged affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
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