Judge dismisses 2 jurors in Trump hush money trial

After seating seven jurors on Tuesday, a New York judge dismissed two jurors as jury selection continued Thursday.

Apr 18, 2024 - 19:50

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Judge dismisses 2 jurors in Trump hush money trial

Former President Donald Trump's New York hush money trial resumed on Thursday as Judge Juan Merchan selects a jury to hear the charges against Trump.

Trump faces 34 felony counts in a New York court for falsifying business records. Merchan said he hopes to allow opening statements to begin on Monday.

The process hit a bit of a speed bump Thursday morning as Merchan dismissed two of the seven jurors previously seated. Juror No. 2 was dismissed after she called the court expressing concerns about whether she could be fair and impartial.

She said that she definitely has concerns now," including about what has been reported about her publicly. She said friends, colleagues and family told her that she had been identified as a potential juror. The identities of jurors are supposed to remain secretive.

But some details, such as the woman's occupation, were known publicly.

Merchan said that the case lost a good juror, which had Josh Steinglass, a member of the prosecution, asking whether jurors should be required to provide job info. Trump's legal team objected to the suggestion.

Merchan said he agreed with Trump's defense that prospective jurors' information is important. He directed the press not to report answers given by potential jurors.

On jurors' questionnaires, they are asked about their current and previous employers. Those answers will be redacted, Merchan said.

Merchan excused the juror, bringing the number of jurors seated to six.

Later Thursday morning, Merchan dismissed juror No. 4 after questions arose over answers provided about whether they or anyone close to them had ever been arrested. Steinglass said that prosecutors discovered an article stating that the juror was arrested for "tearing down political advertisements." They also discovered that the juror's wife was previously involved in a corruption inquiry.

The decision to dismiss the juror came after a lengthy discussion between prosecutors, Trump's defense and Merchan.

SEE MORE: 1 in 3 Americans think Trump acted illegally in hush money case

The jury consists of people of varying ages and socioeconomic statuses. Two of the jurors have law degrees, one is a teacher, and another is a recent college grad who now works for Disney, and another who works in sales.

They reported getting their news from disparate sources, including podcasts, Fox News, the Daily Mail, MSNBC and TikTok. Potential jurors so far have been asked if they would be fair and impartial. Jurors who said no were immediately released.

On Thursday, 96 jurors were brought in for questioning. Of those, 48 were immediately excused because they said they could not be fair. An additional nine potential jurors were dismissed for other reasons.

The jurors' questionnaire included questions about whether they or a relative have worked for Trump, supported groups such as QAnon and Proud Boys, follow Trump on social media, donated to his campaign or attended a Trump rally.

Merchan still needs to find six more jurors and a group of alternates before opening statements can get underway.

The courtroom was closed on Wednesday, giving Trump a day off from the trial. He spent Wednesday meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. According to a readout from the Trump campaign, the two discussed defense spending among NATO nations and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.