Court is expected to begin again for the second day of Trump’s trial at 9:30 a.m. and will resume with jury selection.
HUSH MONEY TRIAL JUDGE TEES UP RULING ON WHETHER TRUMP VIOLATED GAG ORDER, SHOULD PAY THOUSANDS Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts last year.
TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL BEGINS IN NEW YORK CITY WITH JURY SELECTION But more than 50 of the original 96 prospective jurors were excused almost immediately for admitting they could not serve as impartial jurors.
Meanwhile, Merchan had imposed a gag order on Trump last month due to his “prior extrajudicial statements.”
POTENTIAL TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL JURORS BEING ASKED 42 QUESTIONS In court Monday, prosecutors from Bragg’s office argued that Trump had violated his gag order on three separate occasions on social media.
Prosecutors said Trump should be fined $3,000 for the three alleged violations of the gag order – $1,000 for each violation.
TRUMP CALLS HUSH MONEY TRIAL ‘ASSAULT ON AMERICA’ AS CASE OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF Blanche argued that the three posts highlighted by prosecutors did not violate the gag order.
The charges are related to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Following the announcement on Monday that half of the potential jurors could not be impartial toward the presumed Republican nominee, the second day of jury selection in the criminal trial of former President Trump in Manhattan is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
At 9:30 a.m., the second day of Trump’s trial is scheduled to resume in court. m. The jury selection process will then continue.
The former president is on trial for 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records in connection with purported payments of hush money made prior to the 2016 presidential election, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
HUSH MONEY TRIAL JUDGE TEES UP RULING ON WHETHER TRUMP SHOULD PAY THOUSANDS OR NOT.
A guilty plea was entered by Trump on all counts last year.
It is a fraud. Trump declared following Monday’s adjournment of the court that “it’s a political witch hunt.”.
42 questions from a questionnaire covering the candidate’s political affiliation, work history, and preferred media sources were requested of prospective jurors.
The trial of Trump’s hush money has begun in New York City, with the jury selection.
However, after admitting they couldn’t be unbiased jurors, over fifty of the initial ninety-six potential jurors were promptly excused. Because of other matters, a few were excused.
The trial is being presided over by New York Judge Juan Merchan, despite Trump’s request that he step down because of his perceived animosity toward the former president and because his daughter works with Democratic politicians.
On Monday, Merchan, who was sitting on the bench, stated that he had “no basis” to step down.
Subsequently, the judge spoke with the former president face-to-face, informing him that he is entitled to daily attendance at the trial to support his defense.
The former president was forewarned by Merchan that he might be removed from the court and found in contempt if he interfered with the proceedings in any way. Additionally, Merchan threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Trump should he be required to appear and fail to do so.
Instead of speaking back, Trump simply nodded to the judge.
It is anticipated that the trial will run for roughly six weeks. Both Wednesdays and Monday, April 29 are scheduled without a court appearance.
Following the jurors’ day-long release, Merchan denied a defense request for Trump to be excused from the trial the following Thursday in order to attend arguments at the U.S. S. The Supreme Court.
Nine questions about the Trump trial, answered.
On April 25, the high court will hear arguments regarding presidential immunity and whether or not Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case will result in Trump’s immunity from prosecution.
Rejecting Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche’s request, Merchan stated, “Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court… is also a big deal.”.
“Next week, I’ll see him here,” Merchan continued. “.
On May 17, Trump also asked to attend his son Barron Trump’s high school graduation. The former president’s ability to attend Merchan’s son’s celebration is still up in the air.
Following Monday’s adjournment of court, Trump remarked, “It looks like the judge will not let me go to my son’s graduation who has worked very, very hard.”. He excels in school and takes great pride in his performance. He has been anticipating his graduation with his parents for years. Furthermore, it appears that the judge will not let me get out of this scam; this is a scam trial. ****.
Merchan, meantime, had placed Trump under a gag order last month because of his “prior extrajudicial remarks.”. “A sufficient risk to the administration of justice was established,” according to Merchan. “.”.
Trump is not permitted to speak publicly about witnesses or their potential involvement in the case, about attorneys other than Bragg, about court employees, DA employees, or staff members’ families, according to a ruling by Merchan.
Additionally, Merchan ruled that Trump could not make public remarks about any potential juror or selected juror, nor could he order others to do so.
40 QUESTIONS ARE ASKED OF POTENTIAL TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL JURORS.
Prosecutors from Bragg’s office contended in court on Monday that Trump had broken his gag order on social media three times. For the three alleged breaches of the gag order, the prosecution recommended that Trump be fined $3,000, or $1,000 for each infraction.
“The April 1 order is known to the defendant. Christopher Conroy, the prosecutor, stated, “We are aware of that based on the numerous posts he has made.”.
Conroy went on, “We believe it is crucial for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant,” raising the possibility that Trump had broken the gag order Monday morning while in court.
AS THE CASE OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF, TRUMP CALLS THE HUSH MONEY TRIAL A “ASSALTION ON AMERICA.”.
The three posts that the prosecutors had highlighted, according to Blanche, did not break the gag order.
“These witnesses have been making salacious, repeated, and vehement attacks against him,” Blanche said.
Merchan stated that on April 23 at 9:30 a.m., he will hear arguments regarding whether or not Trump broke the gag order. me.
In April of last year, Bragg filed 34 first-degree charges against Trump for falsifying business records. Alleged payments of hush money made during the 2016 presidential campaign are the subject of the charges.
The Department of Justice (DA) claimed that Trump “falsified New York business records on multiple occasions, with fraudulent intent, to conceal criminal conduct that concealed damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”. “.”.
34 felonies counts of falsifying business records connected to 2016 hush money payments have been dropped against Trump.
The charge of first-degree falsifying business records in New York state law states that the defendant intended to defraud by creating false business records. Deception would constitute another crime if it were the intent to commit.
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After looking into the claims, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York decided not to prosecute Trump in connection with the payments he allegedly made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2019.
In 2021, the Federal Election Commission likewise abandoned its inquiry into the issue.
