Donald Trump's estranged niece Mary Trump warned of "disturbing" interference by media outlets such as Fox News in the former president's hush money trial.
On Monday, jury selection began in the criminal case against Trump, who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The full 12-person jury and one alternate has been chosen, but the selection of another five alternate members continued on Friday.
Following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to $130,000 in hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels alleged that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied.
Trump has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges and claiming the case is politically motivated.
On Thursday night, Trump posted a quote from Fox News host Jesse Watters on his social media site Truth Social, which read: "They are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge."
The quote was from Watters' appearance on Fox News' The Five on Wednesday during a discussion about jury selection.
Weighing in on the issue, Mary Trump, who has been an outspoken critic of her uncle, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday night: "Normally, my issue with the corporate media is their failure to shine a light on stories that matter. But in this case, it seems some segments of the corporate media, primarily Fox, is hellbent on helping Donald interfere with his trial through jury intimidation.
"It's a disturbing reality that we must confront."
Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump's spokesman and lawyer via email for comment.
Donald Trump is currently under a gag order which prevents him from speaking publicly about witnesses, lawyers and staff on the case and their families, and Judge Juan Merchan's and Bragg's families. Trump is allowed to talk about Merchan, who is presiding over the case, and Bragg.
"The fact that Donald was quoting somebody else is irrelevant. This seemed to be a blatant case of jury tampering, especially since, at the time of this was posted, five jurors and all six alternates remained to be chosen," Mary Trump's post continued.
Mary Trump also commented on a TV segment from Jesse Watters Primetime on Tuesday, in which the identities of the jurors were described.
She shared a clip of Watters describing Juror #2's job, where in the New York City she is located, and other personal details. During the segment, Watters quoted Juror #2, who reportedly said, "I don't really have an opinion of Trump," and "No one is above the law." Watters then said, "I'm not so sure about Juror #2."
Juror #2 was dismissed after she told Merchan that she had concerns about her identity being revealed and how that might compromise her ability to be a fair juror.
Fox News was not the only media outlet to talk about the identity of the jurors, specifically Juror #2. Newsweek including other outlets such as CNN, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, also shared details about the jury. But Fox was the only one singled-out for being "unethical and dangerous" by Mary Trump.
"Watters then singled out any jurors who didn't align with his idea of what a juror should be (pro-Donald) and cast doubt on their ability to be fair and impartial. This is not just unethical, it's dangerous. Fox, on Donald's behalf, is actively helping Donald create an atmosphere of fear among the jurors," Mary Trump wrote on X. "In a just world, Watters would be fired for his irresponsible behavior, but Fox has no interest in justice."
She ended by saying that Merchan "must lay the smackdown on Donald."
Newsweek reached out to Fox News via email for comment.
Update 4/19/24, 11:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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