Trump trial: Dozens of jurors rejected as they say they cannot be impartial

Dozens of potential jurors have been excluded from Donald Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial in New York on grounds of fairness.

Trump won the 2016 election by denying he falsified business records to conceal hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

After proceedings began on Monday, 60 of the 96 potential jurors quickly said they would be unable to be impartial.

Jury selection will continue Tuesday and could take up to two weeks.

Those who were not immediately excluded on the first day were asked several questions, including about their news and reading habits.

“I just can’t do it,” one prospective juror said as he left the courtroom Monday.

The dismissals illustrate how challenging it is to find a panel of 12 impartial jurors for a case involving a high-profile sex scandal involving a former president running for the White House again.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 (£104,000) in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter the former president denied.

Prosecutors said he did so to “illegally influence” the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection begins in the afternoon. The judge first dismissed jurors who raised their hands and said they could not be impartial, leaving about 34 jurors.

The remaining people were then grilled on 42 questions on a jury questionnaire, including about their news reading habits, whether they had attended a Trump rally or read any books by the former president.

Eighteen people were randomly placed on the judging panel, and they answered the questionnaires one by one.

A man in midtown Manhattan says he reads the Wall Street Journal. Another man from the Upper West Side said his radio routine included listening to whatever was in the shower. He later clarified that he was referring to NPR.

Neither man was immediately fired.

One woman was asked: “Do you have any strong views 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 serve as a fair and impartial juror?” ability?

She simply said “yes” and was fired, though Trump’s team initially refused to forgive her for no reason.

All jurors will remain anonymous due to the high-profile nature of the case, although their identities will be known to Trump’s legal team and prosecutors.

The defendant remained quiet during the day, speaking to his attorney in hushed tones while maintaining a serious expression.

His team later denied suggestions that the former president had struggled to open his eyes or even fallen asleep during the proceedings, telling The Independent: “This is 100 per cent fake news from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even there in court.

Asked what conduct was required in court, Mr. Trump told New York Judge Juan Merchan on Monday morning three words — all “yes.”

But outside the court, Trump said the trial was “nonsense” and an “attack on America.”

Mr. Trump’s public remarks about the case were the subject of several minutes of morning arguments in court.

Prosecutors argued that some of Trump’s posts on his social media site “Truth Social” violated the gag order imposed on him by Judge McCann. The order prohibits Trump from making public comments about people related to the case, including potential witnesses.

The order was expanded to include relatives of those involved in the case after Trump attacked Judge Melchan’s daughter on social media.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked Judge Merchan to fine Mr Trump a total of $3,000 (£2,400) across the three posts. They include a post on Saturday when he called his former attorney and future trial witness Michael Cohen a “disgraced lawyer and felon.”

The judge has scheduled a hearing for April 24 to make a decision.

The judge used the morning to decide which evidence could be used in court.

The defense and prosecutors are at loggerheads over Trump audio leaked in the run-up to the 2016 election. In the clip, taken from a taping of NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” Trump talks about grabbing women’s genitals.

Prosecutors have requested an email chain between Trump campaign officials and the Washington Post reporter who broke the Access Hollywood story, including transcripts of the tapes.

The judge declined to play the audio to jurors but said prosecutors could refer to what Trump said on the tape.

Throughout the day, Mr. Trump was cheered by dozens of people who gathered peacefully but cheered loudly outside the courthouse.

They included a man who played “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the flute for hours, and a Trump impersonator wearing a blond wig and red tie.

Others were decidedly less enthusiastic about the former president. One of them held a banner that read: “Trump has been convicted.”

The hush money trial is just one of four criminal cases facing the former president. But it may be the only case to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, when Republican Trump will face off against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden again.

If convicted, Trump would become the first major-party candidate to run for president as a convicted felon. There is no law prohibiting him from doing so.

Judge Murchin also rejected a defense request that Mr. Trump be exempted from trial next Thursday so that he could participate in Supreme Court arguments on his immunity claim in a separate criminal case.

“Arguments before the Supreme Court are a big deal,” Judge Melchan said, before adding: “A trial in the New York Supreme Court … is also a big deal. I’ll see him here next week.”