Former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori said he is “concerned” about the safety of jurors who will participate in former President Trump’s secret trial.
Khardori told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that some of the jurors may be concerned about the amount of personal information released about them. The first seven jurors were chosen Tuesday to sit in the trial after the judge, Trump’s defense team and prosecutors whittled down the number.
“I’m wondering if some of them are a little unhappy with the amount of information that’s been released about them,” he told Blitzer on “The Situation Room” Tuesday night. “Now, this is not the media’s fault. I want to be very clear about this.”
“The responsibility for keeping all of this very specific information that we are learning lies with the prosecutor’s office and the judge,” he continued. “I’m a little surprised that we’re learning all of this, because I don’t think this jury will necessarily remain anonymous…if they keep it up.”
When asked if he was worried about juror safety, Khardori said “yes.”
“Yes, I am worried about their safety. I mean, it’s up to them to decide if they want to write a book after all this is said and done, but that’s their choice,” he replied. “They shouldn’t be exposed like this. They should not be released in this way.
His comments came after the second day of Trump’s historic trial, the first criminal trial of a former sitting president, concluded in New York. Details about the potential jurors were revealed during questioning, including what media outlets they read, where they work and what they do in their free time.
Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump against juror intimidation on Tuesday, saying he would not tolerate it.
“I will not tolerate this,” Merchan said. “I will not allow any juror to be intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that very clear.”
The warning comes at a time when the former president launches attacks against family members of judges in his court cases and against family members of other political enemies. He is facing an expanded gag order in the hush money case, which prevents him from attacking the judge’s family, witnesses and jurors.
There will be 12 jurors chosen with six alternates for the former president’s trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks.
The trial centers on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements Trump made to his former fixer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep silence about an alleged affair.
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