Judge accuses Trump of trying to intimidate juror called to clarify posts allegedly showing bias toward ex-prez
Donald Trump was accused by a Manhattan judge of intimidating a potential juror by “muttering” and gesturing when the woman was called in to explain alleged “anti-Trump” social media posts.
“Your client was audibly muttering something,” said Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche during jury selection Tuesday. “I don’t know what he was muttering.”
The former president’s agitated moment, Merchan said, occurred just “12 feet away” from the prospective panelist – who was standing at a courtroom lectern to answer questions about two Facebook posts Blanche claimed were “extraordinarily hostile.”
He then offered a stiff warning: “I won’t tolerate that. I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I will be crystal clear.”
The flareup came as Blanche had been questioning a group of 18 possible jurors during “voir dire” – when defense lawyers and prosecutors whittle down the pool in an attempt to get an unbiased group of 12 panelists to decide the former president’s fate.
Blanche was seeking to have the woman – Juror No. B133 – tossed out over a video posted on social media that showed people celebrating on 96th Street after the 45th president lost his seat in the White House for a second term in 2020.
“This is a woman who said she never attended a Trump rally,” Trump’s other lawyer Susan Necheles said, noting that this was “clearly anti-Trump event.”
But prosecutor Joshua Steinglass countered it wasn’t a rally, adding, “This is somebody filming people celebrating from a remote distance.”
The woman – an employee with the city’s Department of Education who lives on the Upper West Side – said she had been going to move her car for alternate side parking when she spotted “people dancing in the street and stuff.”
“It reminded me of the 7 o’clock cheer for the healthcare workers (during the COVID pandemic), which we did for a very long time out on the fire escape, and it was just a New York City celebratory moment,” she told the court.
Blanche also asked her about another video posted around the time Trump lost the 2020 election, and the woman insisted she could fairly serve as a juror.
“Yesterday, when people walked out because they thought they couldn’t” put aside their biases and follow the facts at trial, “I don’t believe that about myself at all,” she clarified.
Merchan denied Trump’s side’s bid to get her thrown out of the pool.
“The juror came in, she was confronted with both of these [posts], and she provided what I believe were reasonable explanations of both,” the judge said.
Trump is slated to be tried starting Monday in the Manhattan District Attorney’s case alleging he falsified business records to cover-up a “hush money” payment to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about their alleged affair.
By Tuesday, seven jurors were sworn in and a pool of 96 prospective jurors will be back on Thursday for questioning until all 12 plus six alternates are picked.
The trial is expected to last around six weeks and is off on Wednesdays.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and repeatedly blasted the judge, accusing him of bias.
“We are going to continue our fight against this judge,” he said on his way out of court Tuesday, as he claimed Merchan was “rushing” the trial.
