Donald Trump trial: jury selection completed, merits of Stormy Daniels case heard Monday

Everything goes according to plan. A jury of twelve members and six alternates was seated Friday in the landmark trial of Donald Trump in New York so they can get to the merits of the case on Monday, as ordered by Judge Juan Merchan.

This final stage of jury selection was interrupted by a horrifying scene when a man tried to set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan courthouse where the trial was taking place, in front of the lenses and cameras of the world’s media.

Donald Trump, the first former American president to face criminal trial, is facing trial for hidden payments designed to buy the silence of former porn star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election, which he won by wire against the Democratic Party. candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump again denounces ‘rigged trial’

The Republican nominee, who will face outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden in November, protested again as he appeared in court Friday morning for the fourth day of hearings against a “rigged trial” that is preventing him from campaigning.

He also criticized Judge Merchan, “the worst,” for banning him from making any public comments directed at witnesses or jurors, which Donald Trump said was an attack on “his constitutional right to freely express himself.” “

The vetting process for the more than 200 potential jurors on parade since Monday, more than half of whom were excused after declaring themselves unable to fairly try the ex-president as well as others targeted by the defense or prosecution, has now been completed.

Seven men and five women

Twelve jurors, seven men and five women living in Manhattan, were sworn in Thursday after a thorough examination of their lives and answers to numerous questions. And on Friday, six of their substitutes were appointed. The jurors, who were promised anonymity by the judge, work in finance, law, commerce, education or health care. They provide a snapshot of New York society.

More than three years after Donald Trump left the White House in chaos, he is theoretically facing jail time. This will not prevent him from facing Joe Biden in November to seek revenge for the 2020 election, but it will project the campaign into the unknown.

However, if he were found not guilty, it would be a great success for the Republican candidate. Moreover, he managed to postpone three other criminal trials: two in Washington and Georgia for illegal attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and one in Florida for allegedly organizing random access to classified documents.

Falsification of accounting documents?

In the case, Donald Trump is charged in New York state courts with falsifying the books of his company, the Trump Organization, to conceal, under the guise of “legal fees,” a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels from her then-personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

In exchange, the former X-rated movie star agreed to remain silent about her 2006 sexual relationship with the billionaire. Donald Trump has always denied this relationship, and his defense team claims that the payments took place in the private sphere. But prosecutor Alvin Bragg intends to show that these are indeed fraudulent maneuvers to hide information from voters in the days before the vote.

If he were elected again, Donald Trump could, upon his inauguration in January 2025, order the dismissal of federal proceedings against him in Washington and Florida.