- Seven jurors, three women and four men, were selected Tuesday in Trump's Manhattan hush money trial.
- Trump gave reporters a preview of his possible defense as he entered the courtroom.
- The former president blamed “an accountant.”
Tuesday was the second day of jury selection in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial, and the day began with the former president previewing his possible defense to reporters: hush money. Regarding the actual payment of was As far as he knows, it was legal fees.
Then, “an accountant” from the Trump Organization, who is currently on trial, handled the paperwork.
“I paid my lawyer and I counted it as a legal expense,” Trump said in the hallway outside the courtroom, answering a pool reporter's angry questions.
“Unbeknownst to me, one of my accountants had written it off as a legal expense,” Trump continued.
“That's exactly what happened. So you're going to be charged?” he continued.
President Trump gave his defense a test drive on the second day of his hectic trial, but the Republican front-runner appeared to have a hard time staying awake, especially in the morning.
A total of seven jurors were selected, four men and three women.
Both the defense and prosecution defeated 6 of the 10 significant challenges.
When court resumes Thursday, the parties will begin selecting the remaining five jurors and up to six alternates from a pool of 96 potential jurors.
The seven jurors selected were told they would return for opening statements on Monday.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney's indictment, he falsified 34 business records for the Trump Organization to cover up an illegal plot to interfere in the 2016 election and paid legal fees to then-attorney Michael Cohen. It is said that it was disguised as
Trump's falsified records concealed $130,000 in hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, who was about to publicly claim that she had sex with the then-Apprentice star in 2006. This claim is denied.
Trump's hallway remarks suggest that his lawyers will argue at trial that he had no knowledge of what prosecutors allege was falsified documents.
Also on Tuesday morning, prosecutors made good on their promise a day earlier to seek to hold Trump in contempt of court for violating the gag order. ”
“The defendant knowingly provoked this court by publishing several social media posts attacking two known witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels,” prosecutors said in a new motion. violated the order.”
The defense has until Friday to file a response explaining why Trump should not be held in contempt. If state Supreme Court Justice Juan Melchian finds Trump guilty of contempt, he could face fines or even prison time.
Meanwhile, jury selection continued for a second day on Tuesday.
No jurors were chosen during Monday's four-hour jury selection, which began the day with a half-day of arguments on pretrial motions.
On Tuesday, just under 30 anonymous prospective jurors will take turns answering jury questionnaire questions as Mr. Trump's lawyers and District Attorney Alvin Bragg listen intently.
The survey asks basic biographical questions: “What region do you live in?” Among them is “What do you do for a living?”
It also asked prospective jurors whether they had read any of Trump's books, whether they supported QAnon or Antifa, and whether they had “strong opinions or beliefs about former President Donald Trump.” I'm asking you what to do.
When Trump entered the room, he winked at a random court official and said, “How are you doing?” before taking a seat at the defense table.
He appears to have trouble staying awake during the sometimes tedious jury selection process. While sitting at the defense table, he closes his eyes for many minutes and occasionally appears to wake up.
