First 7 jurors picked as Trump’s hush money trial wraps on day 2: Recap

Trump told reporters outside a bodega in Harlem he doesn’t believe he violated his gag order in the hush money case.

“No, I didn’t. There shouldn’t be a gag order. Let me just tell you, the gag order is totally unconstitutional,” Trump said.

— Brett Samuels

Trump, taking questions outside a bodega in Harlem, was asked what he thinks of the jurors in his case.

“I don’t know. It’s a little bit early to see. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said, pivoting to calling Judge Juan Merchan “so conflicted.”

— Brett Samuels

Trump again spoke briefly to reporters assembled outside the courtroom as he left for the day, taking the chance to bash Judge Juan Merchan as “totally conflicted.”

“He’s a conflicted judge, as you know,” Trump said, accusing the judge of “rushing this trial and doing as much as he can for the Democrats.”

“This trial is being watched by the whole world,” Trump added.

— Brett Samuels

Trump’s second day of trial adjourned with the selection of a seventh individual to sit on his jury.

The trial will reconvene Thursday.

— Ella Lee

Neither side challenged any of the new batch of prospective jurors for cause. Prosecutors used peremptory strikes to dismiss two of them.

That means one additional juror was selected, bringing the total to seven:

Seventh juror: Lives on the Upper East Side but is originally from North Carolina. He is a civil litigator married with two children. He gets his news from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Washington Post, WNYC and listens to podcasts “SmartLess” and “Car Talk.”

— Zach Schonfeld

Blanche’s questioning concluded after about 15 minutes, and the lawyers are now discussing which jurors to strike.

— Zach Schonfeld

Todd Blanche is up next after Susan Hoffinger asked jurors various questions, including if they felt prosecutors needed to clear a higher legal burden than normal because Trump is a former president.

The jurors who responded indicated “no.”

— Zach Schonfeld

Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger is questioning the jurors who passed the initial screening, asking them about various odds and ends that came up when they answered their questionnaires.

— Zach Schonfeld

A prospective juror said he was called for jury duty years ago and thinks Trump was one of the parties in the case.

The man couldn’t recall many details, and it remains unclear if he was actually a sworn juror.

“I’m a little nervous here,” the man said.

— Zach Schonfeld

Trump just looked at something on a cell phone, before handing it to his attorney, Susan Necheles.

— Zach Schonfeld

Both sides receive 10 “peremptory strikes,” which allow them to strike jurors without providing a reason just before they are officially selected.

So far, the district attorney’s office has used four strikes, and Trump’s lawyers have used six.

— Zach Schonfeld

A court official swore in the next panel of 96 prospective jurors — who had been waiting all day in the courthouse — and sent them home. They will return Thursday morning.

Some looked around curiously as they entered the courtroom, and some craned their heads to try to get a look at Trump, according to the pool.

Nearly all of the initial panel of 96 sworn-in Monday were either excused or selected for the jury. Six prospective jurors in that panel remain, and they will now be screened before the court breaks for the day.

— Zach Schonfeld

Judge Juan Merchan predicted that opening statements in Trump’s New York criminal case could begin as early as Monday.

The judge made the projection after swearing in the first six individuals selected to serve as jurors in the historic trial.

— Ella Lee

An additional three jurors have been selected to serve in Trump’s hush money trial, bring the total number of empaneled jurors to six as of Tuesday afternoon.

Fourth juror: A middle-aged man born in Puerto Rico who has lived on the Lower East Side for more than 40 years. He told the court he has “no spare time” for hobbies and is self-employed. His wife is a writer and his child works in sales and research.

Fifth juror: A younger Black woman who is a Harlem native and has taught English Language and Arts for eight years. She has never been married and has no children, and she said she considers herself a creative at heart.

Sixth juror: A Disney employee who was previously a student. She has three roommates and is unmarried without children.

The court is seeking to empanel 12 jurors and six alternates.

— Ella Lee

After a series of for-cause and peremptory challenges, the first three jurors have been selected for Trump’s hush money trial.

First juror: A man who is originally from Ireland and now lives in West Harlem. He works in sales and gets his news from The New York Times, the Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC.

Second juror: A woman who is a native New Yorker and has been an oncology nurse for 15 years. She spends her free time with family and friends and taking her dog to the park.

Third juror: A young to middle-aged Asian man who lives in Chelsea and grew up in Oregon. He is a corporate attorney.

— Zach Schonfeld

Social media posts made by a potential juror’s husband drew the scrutiny of Trump’s lawyers.

Todd Blanche pointed to a social media post showing a character from “The Simpsons” with Trump’s head in its hands, a post depicting Trump and former President Obama that, per the judge, referenced “Orange is the New Black” and a post showing “The Avengers unite against Trump.”

Joshua Steinglass suggested that the posts, made in 2016 by the juror’s husband, were “humor.” But Judge Juan Merchan joked that it’s “not very good humor.”

The judge declined further inquiry, noting that the posts did not involve the juror and were made more than eight years ago. He said “if this is the worst thing you’re able to find about this juror,” it instills confidence in her ability to be fair and impartial.

— Ella Lee

Judge Juan Merchan agreed to Trump’s lawyers’ request to dismiss a middle-aged man who worked at Lands’ End over his past social media post.

“Good news!! Trump lost his court battle on his unlawful travel ban!!!” the post in question read.

It later read, “Get him out, and lock him up.”

“I don’t think I can allow this juror to remain,” Merchan said.

— Zach Schonfeld

The judge refused Trump’s first request to excuse a prospective juror for cause following screenings of Facebook videos on her account.

Trump’s lawyers took issue with Facebook videos the prospective juror allegedly posted showing people honking their horns celebrating President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

Judge Juan Merchan said the woman gave “reasonable explanations” for the videos and insisted she could be impartial.

“I find her to be credible,” Merchan said.

— Zach Schonfeld

The judge at one point got irritated with Trump, saying he was making gestures and “audible” comments while a prospective juror was being questioned about her social media posts.

Judge Juan Merchan noted Trump was about 12 feet away from the juror, instructing Todd Blanche to speak with his client.

“I won’t tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear,” Merchan said, raising his voice.

— Zach Schonfeld

When the court proceeding convened, Judge Juan Merchan and Todd Blanche began conferring about the prospective jurors’ social media posts.

Blanche is attempting to convince the judge to dismiss some of the prospective jurors for cause, taking aim at such posts.

“There are a number of jurors that we have social media posts for very much contrary to the answers they gave,” Blanche said.

Merchan says they can bring prospective jurors in and question them individually concerning posts.

— Zach Schonfeld

The judge retook the bench at 2:15 p.m.

— Zach Schonfeld

Jurors were excused just after 1 p.m. for about an hourlong lunch.

When the court reconvenes, the lawyers will make challenges to the 18 jurors who were just questioned.

The judge said there are six additional jurors from the initial panel of 96 who still must go through the screening process.

The judge also wants to at least swear in the next panel of jurors, which would also be 18, before adjourning for the day. The court typically wraps up around 4:30 p.m.

— Zach Schonfeld

Todd Blanche concluded his questioning by asking the 18 prospective jurors if there was anything he didn’t ask about they wanted to share.

No juror responded.

Afterward, the jurors were excused from the courtroom in order for the parties to make their decisions.

— Zach Schonfeld

One juror addressed the possibility of Trump testifying during the trial, becoming animated as she did so, according to a pool report.

“If he decides not to speak … that’s your right. You can’t presume that makes him guilty,” she said, waving her hand for emphasis.

“It’s really — the prosecutor’s the one that has to present those facts and prove them, but as I said, he has the right not to say them,” she added.

At the end of what was described as a somewhat impassioned speech, Todd Blanche said, “I don’t think I could have said it better myself.”

Trump has suggested that he could take the stand, but it’s not known yet if he will.

One of the 18 jurors being grilled by Todd Blanche Tuesday afternoon indicated by raising their hand that they were not aware that Trump faces criminal charges in three other cases.

Trump has been indicted in the state of Georgia and in two federal cases involving efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the potential mishandling of classified documents after he left office.

The hush money indictment was the first to be handed down to Trump.

He’s also facing a mountain of penalties stemming from two recent civil cases out of New York involving business fraud and defamation.

— Zach Schonfeld

“I find him fascinating. He walks around a room and sets people off one way or another, and I find that really interesting,” one juror said. 

“All right,” Todd Blanche responded jokingly.

— Zach Schonfeld

Many of the jurors have insisted they can set aside any personal views, but Todd Blanche’s questioning so far has focused on identifying jurors who view Trump negatively.

“What I want to do is test that a little bit,” Blanche said of jurors’ claims they can be impartial.

But many of the prospective jurors have appeared reluctant to outright concede they are Democrats or don’t like Trump — who is seated just feet away staring at them.

One juror, described as a white man in his 50s or 60s, went back and forth with Blanche for largely refusing to share his views on Trump and insisted he could compartmentalize.

“I’ll say I’m a Democrat, so there you go, but I walk in there and he’s a defendant, and that’s all he is,” the juror said, according to the press pool.

— Zach Schonfeld

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche has begun questioning jurors.

— Zach Schonfeld

Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, spent most his questioning trying to weed out any concerns from jurors about prosecutors’ theory of the case.

He asked jurors if they had a problem finding a witness credible if they “have baggage,” like Michael Cohen, a star witness who previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.

Steinglass concluded his questioning by going down the line to get assurances from each of the 18 that they would feel comfortable finding Trump guilty.

— Zach Schonfeld

New York prosecutor Joshua Steinglass began his questioning by telling jurors the case has “nothing to do” with their personal politics and that “we don’t care” who they’ll vote for this year.

“It’s not a referendum on the Trump presidency,” Steinglass said.

Steinglass acknowledged Trump’s role as a former president who is running for the White House again.

No jurors raised their hand when he asked if anyone felt prosecutors should prove more given Trump’s status, according to a pool report.

— Zach Schonfeld