Trouble plaguing Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York and its anonymous jury is beginning to build, as a nurse designated as “juror number two” withdrew after details of his personal life were revealed to the court allowed her to be identified by friends and colleagues, scaring her enough to want to avoid participating in the most important trial in the country’s history.
“I definitely have concerns now…about being in public. Just yesterday I had friends, colleagues pushing things on my phone questioning my identity as a juror. I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and impartial and let outside influences not affect my decision to be in the courtroom,” she told the judge Thursday morning.
“Thank you. I’m sorry,” the New York Supreme Court justice said. Juan Merchan replied. “You are excused.”
This trial takes place before an anonymous jury, known to the former president and the prosecutors, but not identified by name to the general public. It was a safety measure put in place by the judge to deal with heightened political tensions in the case, largely stoked by Trump’s violent rhetoric and the framing of the case as an “assault on America” of treason.
Trump’s Bodega visit should scare Democrats
The judge criticized the journalists, whom he called irresponsible, for being too detailed in their reporting on the answers given by potential jurors when they were selected to serve on the jury.
Merchan lamented that “we just lost what probably could have been a very grand juror in this case,” citing that she had explained being “very intimidated by the press.”
“There is a reason why this is an anonymous jury and we are taking the steps that were taken. And it kind of defeats the purpose when so much information is out there that it’s very, very easy for us to identify who the jurors are,” the judge said.
He then asked journalists to be reasonable and use common sense.
“I ask the press to simply apply common sense and refrain from writing about physical descriptions. It’s simply not necessary. It’s no use,” he said. “No one needs to mention that one of the jurors had an Irish accent. I don’t see how this sparked any interest.
Judge Merchan then “ordered” journalists seated in the courtroom and in an additional room receiving a video and audio feed not to make public the answers to the third question of the jury questionnaire, which asks the current employer of the person and the size of the company. In recent days, those details were enough to allow news organizations to quickly identify several potential jurors who run their own small businesses or work at well-known companies.
“If you can’t do that, if you can’t stick with that, we’re going to have to see what else we can do to keep jurors safe,” he warned.
The court’s opening Thursday then immediately turned its attention to the real threat fueling those fears: Trump’s own intimidation tactics.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office reiterated its request that the judge hold Trump in contempt of court for ignoring a gag order preventing him from speaking publicly about witnesses or jurors, highlighting how the former president continues to take it out on his ex-lawyer. -became a witness Michael Cohen and his anger at being put before a jury in a largely liberal New York City.
Christopher Conroy, senior counsel for the DA’s investigative division, told Merchan that Trump had “violated the order seven more times” since Tuesday alone, ignoring the judge’s subsequent warnings.
“This is ridiculous. This has to stop,” Conroy said.
The prosecutor noted how Trump took to Truth Social to share a New York Post article about Cohen to question his credibility, only to have his 2024 Republican presidential campaign share it later that evening. Conroy also noted that Trump shared another article on Wednesday questioning Cohen’s credibility. But the prosecutor gave added weight to Trump’s post last night on his own social media site, in which Trump quoted Fox News host Jesse Waters and wrote: “They’re catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge in order to be part of the Trump jury. »
“That’s the most concerning message, especially in light of this morning,” Conroy said. “These statements all violated your order.”
Conroy said the prosecutor’s office still wants the judge to fine Trump, but he hinted at a harsher punishment – which could mean prison time – when he said: “We are still considering our options depending on how (it) plays out. .”
One of Trump’s defense attorneys, Emil Bove, tried to convince the judge that Trump was not. technically violating the gag order by simply repeating what others have said. Bove said the situation “highlights some of the ambiguities of the order.”
“President Trump’s responses are political in nature. They are intended to defend against what Mr. Cohen says…silence does not preclude responding to political attacks,” Bove said. ” Another thing. Only recently… has DA taken the position that republishing other people’s statements violates the order of silence.”
The judge said he would consider the issue after reviewing written legal arguments from both sides, possibly as early as Friday.
“I look forward to seeing that,” Merchan said, then allowed potential jurors in the room to continue with jury selection.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered straight to your inbox. Register now.
Stay informed and get unlimited access to The Daily Beast’s unrivaled reporting. Subscribe now.
yahoo
