Trump's Manhattan Jury Has Been Seated

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A twelve-person jury has been seated in the first criminal trial against former President Donald Trump. One alternative juror was selected and another six alternative jurors may be selected today.

It was originally reported that jury selection might take up to two weeks but it looks like it will be finished after four days in court. The court is not in session on Wednesdays. This means that opening statements will begin soon. It could begin early next week.

This is an unprecedented time. A former president is being criminally prosecuted in what is being called a hush-money trial as he runs for election in November. The statute of limitations has run out so what would normally be a misdemeanor trial has morphed into a criminal trial, thanks to Manhattan D.A. Alvin Briggs, who is obsessed with throwing Donald Trump in jail.

Judge Juan Merchan dismissed two of the seven jurors on Thursday that had been selected on Tuesday. The jury selection process moved ahead and the remaining five were selected.

Judge Merchan’s ability to be a non-partial judge is questioned because he is a donor to Democrats, including Joe Biden. He’s a small donor so he refused to recuse himself.

Judge Juan Merchan, the jurist handling former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan, donated $35 to Democratic causes in 2020, including $15 to President Biden’s campaign and $10 to a group dedicated to “resisting … Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.”

Federal Election Commission records show Merchan made three small-dollar donations within the span of two days in July 2020 through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s preferred online fundraising platform.

The veteran judge contributed $15 earmarked for the “Biden for President” campaign on July 26, 2020, and then the following day made $10 contributions to the Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans.

The Progressive Turnout Project’s stated mission is to “rally Democrats to vote,” according to the group’s website.

Merchan’s daughter is a different story. She is a big-time Democrat fundraiser. She has raised millions of dollars for Democrats, including Joe Biden. She is currently fundraising off of Trump’s trial. That stinks to high heaven.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment issued to Stormy Daniels, a porn star when Trump first ran for office in 2015. The alleged affair happened in 2006.

Who are the jurors? It is reported that there are seven men and five women. The judge has made it clear to reporters that the identity of the jurors is to be kept under wraps.

CBS News reports the following information.

Juror #1 – The foreperson is a man who works in sales. He reads The New York Times, the Daily Mail, Fox News, and MSNBC, he said.
Juror #3 – A corporate lawyer who said he is not very familiar with the other charges Trump faces.
Juror #5 – A woman working as a middle school teacher who indicated she doesn’t care to follow political news closely. “President Trump speaks his mind. I would rather that in a person than someone who’s in office and you don’t know what they’re doing behind the scenes,” she said during questioning.
Juror #6 – A software engineer who said she can see Trump as a normal person on trial.
Juror #7 – A man who is a civil litigator and has children.

These jurors were seated Thursday, as reported by CNN:

Juror #8 – A retired man, married with two kids, who is more interested in his hobbies than news regarding Trump.
Juror #9 – A woman with a masters degree who works as a speech therapist. She lives alone.
Juror #10 – A man working in retail who does not follow the news, except to listen to psychology podcasts. He is unmarried.
Replaced Juror #2 – A married investment banker with a master’s degree. He follows Trump on social media and read “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”
Replaced Juror #4 – A married man working as a security engineer with a high school degree. He said he is not on social media.
Juror #11 – A woman who works for an apparel company and said she did not like the president’s “persona,” calling him “selfish and self-serving.” Trump’s team asked for her to be dismissed but Merchan denied the request.
Juror #12 – A married physical therapist with a doctorate and no children. She reads The New York Times, USA TODAY and CNN.

I find it interesting that the jurors are asked about their sources for news. It sounds like it is an interesting mix of people. I don’t for a minute think that Trump will get a fair trial in Manhattan. This will backfire and Trump will probably gain support among voters who are paying attention.

The trial won’t be televised. We’ll only see Trump as he enters and exits the courtroom. He usually stops and speaks to the reporters covering the trial.