A full jury has been selected in former President Trump’s case, setting the stage for opening remarks to begin on Monday.
After nearly 200 potential jurors were selected by the judge, Trump’s lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors, a total of 12 jurors and six alternates were selected Friday to hear the first criminal case of a former U.S. president. .
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a secret deal with an adult film actress before the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
The jury is a melting pot of Manhattanites, with residents from Harlem to Chelsea, from physical therapists to investment bankers, and from immigrants to longtime New Yorkers.
Jury selection took four days, and the process was somewhat complicated by Trump’s controversial political reputation, deep ties to New York City and media coverage.
About 50 New Yorkers excused themselves from each of the first two full days of jury selection after admitting they did not believe they could be “fair and impartial” to Trump.
Others suggested they knew people who knew Trump or were familiar with his contributions to the city, offering both neutral and positive assessments of the former president’s time in the city.
And, of course, most knew his politics.
“He was our president,” said one prospective juror who ended up serving on the jury. “Everyone knows who he is.”
One individual, who was reached by the district attorney’s office, said he admired Trump’s rise as a businessman and politician, proclaiming that he “paved his own way” and “kind of made history.”
Another person, who was eventually chosen to serve on the jury, said Trump “seems very selfish and egotistical.”
Some potential jurors’ old social media posts about the former president – including from the heat of the 2016 and 2020 elections – came back to haunt them.
A woman apologized to the former president for the “tone” of posts she made years earlier, including one criticizing Trump as a “racist and sexist narcissist”; she was attacked for just cause by the judge. Another person was fired over a post that said “Get him out of here and lock him up,” referring to Trump.
Other potential jurors asked to be relieved of their duties due to anxiety about serving in the high-profile case.
“This is a lot more stressful than I thought it would be,” said one dismissed juror.
Jury selection means opening comments could begin Monday morning, with witness testimony soon after.
Prosecutors will present their case first. To prove Trump’s guilt, they must convince jurors that the former president – who faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a secret payment his former fixer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before Election Day 2016 – did so with the intent to defraud and commit or promote another crime.
They will try to portray the payment to Daniels as a small part of a broader “catch and kill” scheme to suppress negative gossip about Trump ahead of the election.
Trump denies the salacious accusations and pleads innocent.
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