Lawyers for former President Donald Trump exposed social media posts from a potential juror on Tuesday.
Trump appeared in Manhattan court on Tuesday for the second day of his criminal trial for alleged hush money payments made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The first two days have been focused on jury selection, after many were asked to complete a questionnaire with questions asking about their political beliefs.
Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press detailed a conversation on X, formerly Twitter, between Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, and New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case.
"Trump's lawyer Blanche: There are a number of the jurors that we have social media posts for very much contrary to what they said. We don't want to confront them openly," Russell Lee wrote on X.
In another post, Russell Lee said that Blanche brought up a Facebook post from one potential juror.
"When the juror was asked for her opinion of President Trump, she said nothing. But when he lost the election, they celebrated on Facebook - they got in the car and spread the honking cheer."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
The Context
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump in April 2023, accusing the former president of "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing in the case and was previously placed under a gag order after criticizing Merchan's daughter.
What We Know
Shortly after Blanche brought up the juror, they were brought into the courtroom.
Merchan said Trump was clearly audible at this time and gesturing to the juror. The judge said he would not tolerate such behavior, allowing witnesses to be intimidated. The potential juror confirmed that it was her Facebook post and acknowledged a "bias exists," but she does not think it affects her ability to be fair and impartial.
She said the video was "just a New York City celebratory moment."
Views
Judge Merchan did not excuse the juror in question and said that while he doesn't want a juror who speaks out against Trump, he noted that he believes the potential juror in question can be fair and impartial, as she said.
The prosecution also argued the Facebook video doesn't mean the potential juror cannot be fair. Our team in court was not able to see the video being played.
What's next:
The jury selection process is expected to continue over the next few weeks. The trial will not be taking place on Wednesday.
Update 4/16/24, 3:11 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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