Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court with his legal team ahead of the start of jury selection in New York, NY, U.S on Monday, April 15, 2024.
Jabin Botsford | Via Reuters
Lawyers in the New York hush money trial of Donald Trump are set to question dozens of prospective jurors Thursday as they gallop toward opening arguments in the former president’s historic criminal trial.
Seven jurors were seated Tuesday, the second day of the Manhattan Supreme Court trial centered on charges that Trump falsified business records in a scheme to silence porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Five more jurors, plus six alternates, remain to be picked from a group of 96 prospects. At the current pace, the trial could proceed to opening arguments by Monday — a week faster than some legal experts predicted.
Trump is required to sit in court throughout the trial, which convenes on all weekdays, except Wednesday, and is expected to last around six weeks.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has denounced the trial as a political “witch hunt” and complained that it prevents him from campaigning against President Joe Biden.
But Trump has also used the media frenzy surrounding his trial — and his three other pending criminal cases — as an opportunity to spread campaign messages and attack his political foes. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump accused Judge Juan Merchan of “rushing” the trial.
He then traveled to a north Harlem bodega for a campaign stop aiming to suggest that his prosecutor, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is failing to stop crime in New York City because of his focus on the trial.
On Wednesday, Trump complained that his legal team was given “not nearly enough” chances to reject potential jurors. In fact, he received the exact number of strikes allotted under New York law.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.