“The whole thing is a hoax.”
The case is one of four criminal trials Trump faces as he campaigns to return to the White House in November.
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After adjourning on day two with seven out of 12 jurors chosen, things got off to a rocky start on day three with two selected jurors immediately dropped, and dozens of prospective jurors declaring during the selection process that they could not be impartial.
The first juror to be dropped had informed the court that “after sleeping on it overnight” she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial due to fears her identity could be revealed.
“Aspects of my identity have already been out there in public,” added the oncology nurse from New York’s Upper East Side. “Yesterday alone, I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone, questioning my identity as a juror.”
The development underscores the concerns about the privacy and safety of jurors who agree to take part in a trial involving Trump during a period of heightened political violence, such as the attack at the Capitol in Washington in 2021.
Rioters loyal to president Donald Trump overrun US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, trying to overturn the 2020 election result.Credit: AP
A second juror was also dropped after prosecutors found a person with the same name had been arrested for tearing down political posters in the 1990s. This raised doubts about his credibility, as one of the 42 questions candidates have to answer as part of the selection process specifically asks if they, or anyone they know, has been arrested.
After the juror was called in to explain, New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan dismissed him instructing him not to return when opening arguments begin next week.
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels in 2006. He was 60, she was 27. He is accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush-money payment to her.Credit: MySpace.com/StormyDaniels
To protect the identity of jurors, the judge directed the media to no longer report where a juror works or used to work – even though this is something they are asked on the record during the selection process.
“It’s become a problem,” he said.
The 34 charges that Trump faces are based on a $US130,000 ($202,000) payment Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen made to Daniels, allegedly to keep the details of their affair from becoming public.
Trump reimbursed Cohen through his company the Trump Organisation, but allegedly disguised the payment as a legal retainer, thereby breaching campaign finance laws.
Former president Donald Trump talks with bodega owner Maad Ahmed, centre, during a campaign stop at his New York store on Tuesday. Credit: AP
Also on Friday, Trump faced a new push by prosecutors to sanction him for repeatedly violating a gag order designed to stop him from verbally attacking people involved in the case.
As the trial kicked off this week, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office asked the judge to fine Trump $US3000 for violating an earlier gag order, after he made a reference on social media to Cohen and Daniels as “two sleaze bags”.
Prosecutors told the court that Trump had violated the order seven times since then.
Among those breaches were social media links to articles calling Cohen a “serial perjurer” and alleging that “undercover liberal activists” were lying to the judge to get on the jury.