Former President Donald Trump and his legal team were granted access to private information by the judge presiding over his criminal case in New York after more than one juror expressed concern about their identities being revealed.
Judge Juan Merchan sided with Trump’s attorneys on Thursday, agreeing that it was “necessary” for counsel to know the current and previous employers of the potential jurors, but that those details did not need to be publicized by the press.
Prosecutors for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office had suggested that jurors no longer answer two of the “most identifying” questions on the list. Those questions, 3A and 3, asked “Who is your current employer?” and “Who was your prior employer?”
Trump returned to the Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday to continue the jury selection process in the hush money case. Seven jurors had been selected for the trial on Tuesday, but before any more were added Thursday, one of the seven informed the court they could not be fair and impartial. The juror said that friends and family had since questioned her about being on the jury, and that it had impacted her ability to decide the case.
She was excused and the jury count dropped down to six.
After she was dismissed, Merchan remarked to the court, “We just lost what would have been a very good juror for this case.”
Then, later in the morning, another one of the jurors selected on Tuesday returned to the court to express “annoyance” about the amount of information that had been put out there. He was also excused.
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By the end of the day, the jury count reached 12 jurors and one alternate. The court will aim to seat the remaining five alternates on Friday, so that opening remarks can still begin as scheduled on Monday.
Last April, Trump became the first former president to be indicted when he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. On Monday, he became the first former president to stand criminal trial.
The charges stem from an alleged hush money payment that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors claim that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment and other expenses but labeled them as legal fees. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Thursday, Trump’s team took issue with striking the employer questions from the questionnaire, telling the judge that the prosecution knew this could pose problems before jury selection began. They argued that it was “not fair” to suddenly rule that the court shouldn’t have this information.
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Merchan agreed that the employment details were “necessary” for the court to know but acknowledged that the amount of information about potential jurors was becoming a problem for the trial.
The judge said that prospective jurors would continue to answer the questions about current and former employers, but he also ruled that those answers would be redacted from the transcript moving forward. He instructed the press not to report those answers.
Merchan was strict with the press on Thursday, starting the day by reminding reporters, “There’s a reason why this is an anonymous jury.”
He said that while the press can report on anything on the courtroom record, reporters should refrain from writing any physical descriptions, including accents, to avoid giving too many identifying details about the New Yorkers who will decide Trump’s case. Merchan warned that if the problem persists, he would look into other measures to address the issue.
