Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer on Tuesday debunked social media posts by potential jurors.
Trump appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday for the second day of his criminal trial for allegedly paying hush money to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The first two days focused on jury selection, with many people being asked to fill out a questionnaire. Includes questions asking about political beliefs.
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press reports that the X (formerly Twitter ) detailed the conversation.
“Mr. Trump’s lawyer Blanche: There are a number of jurors who have posted things on social media that are completely contrary to what the jurors have said, and we don’t want to publicly confront them,” Russell Lee said. I wrote.
In another post, Russell Lee said Blanche brought up a Facebook post from one of the potential jurors.
“When the jury asked her opinion about President Trump, she had no answer. But when President Trump lost the election… they celebrated on facebook – They got into their cars and let out a cheer of honking. ”
newsweek President Trump’s press secretary was contacted for comment via email.
context
In April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused former President Trump of “fraudulently falsifying New York business records to cover up his crimes in concealing harmful information from voters during the 2016 presidential election.” Trump was indicted.
President Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case, and was previously subject to a gag order for criticizing Marchand’s daughter.
what we know
As soon as Blanche called the jury, they were brought into the courtroom.
Marchan said he could clearly hear Trump gesticulating to the jury at the time. The judge said he would not tolerate acts where witnesses were intimidated. The prospective juror acknowledged it was his own Facebook post and acknowledged that “bias exists,” but he doesn’t think it affects his ability to be fair and impartial. .
She said the video was “just a celebratory moment in New York City.”
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Judge Marchan won’t condone the juror in question and doesn’t want a juror who speaks against Mr. Trump, but as she said, the prospective juror in question can be fair and impartial. He said he believed that.
Prosecutors also argued that the Facebook video did not mean the potential jurors were not impartial. Our team in the courtroom could not see the video being played.
What’s next:
The jury selection process is expected to continue over the next several weeks. The trial will not be held on Wednesday.
Updated April 16, 2024, 3:11 PM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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