Trump arrives in court as jury selection for hush-money trial nears close – live

LWN
Donald Trump, Ireland, Israel, New York, United States, US, White House
April 20, 2024
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All six alternate jurors chosen

After days of jury selection, the court has finally chosen all 12 jurors and 6 alternate jurors who will decide the fate of Donald Trump in his historic criminal trial.

The selection of all 18 jurors came not without setbacks, as judge Juan Merchan dismissed two seated jurors earlier this week over identity and credibility concerns.

With the jury bench now full, the trial is expected to move towards opening statements next week.

Here is where the day stands:

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After days of jury selection, the court has finally chosen all 12 jurors and 6 alternate jurors who will decide the fate of Donald Trump in his historic criminal trial. The selection of all 18 jurors came not without setbacks, as judge Juan Merchan dismissed two seated jurors earlier this week over identity and credibility concerns.

Judge Juan Merchan told Donald Trump’s defense team – which has repeatedly challenged and re-challenged rulings he has made – to stop trying to have another bite at the apple. “At this point, what’s happened is defense is literally targeting individual decisions, one by one by one by one, and filing pre-motion letters,” Merchan said, adding that opening statements are going to happen on Monday morning.

The prosecutors previously submitted documents indicating that they wanted to ask Donald Trump about a variety of trials should he testify, to challenge his credibility as a witness. These include sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll’s defamation cases against him. As the hearing progressed, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove said that asking Trump about the verdict in Carroll’s cases on cross-examination would be “unacceptable.”

A man set himself on fire outside the Manhattan criminal court where Donald Trump’s criminal trial was under way. The man has been identified as Maxwell Azarello who was born in 1987. According to his driver’s license, he is from St Augustine, Florida.

Maxwell Azarello has been described as a “conspiracy theorist” by police and had pamphlets on scene which police described as “propaganda-based.” He is in critical condition at Weill Cornell’s burn unit.

House Democrats came to the rescue of Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, in a rare move for a committee that normally votes along party lines, in order to save the Ukraine aid legislation from rightwing rebels. Johnson now looks set to push forward this weekend on a $95bn aid bill for Kyiv, Israel, Taiwan and other allies, which has stalled in the House after passing the Senate.

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“We do have a vehicle identified that’s connected to him. We’re currently searching that car,” police said.

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“We do not believe this was targeting any particular person or a particular group. We just right now labelled him as a sort of conspiracy theorist and we’ll go from there but the investigation will continue,” police added.

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NYPD is now briefing the press about the man who is in the Weill Cornell burn unit in critical condition.

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The man has been identified as Maxwell Azarello who was born in 1987. According to his driver’s license, he is from St Augustine, Florida.

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According to police, the accelerant that was used “appears to be some kind of alcohol-based substance that’s used for cleaning.”

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“Court officers rushed to aid the man, one of the was injured” from smoke inhalation, a court official said.

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The injured officer was taken to the hospital.

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Court will continue as scheduled.

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One bystander described the incident, saying:

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n

He made a noise and he threw all those pamphlets. I don’t know if the cops will ever release that but those pamphlets have the answers of whatever the hell…convinced himself to kill himself…

n

It’s just shocking. I mean, I couldn’t do anything. It’s honestly hard to even process in your brain. There’s some people crying in the park… There’s just nothing you can do. He’s burning himself …”

n

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A person appears to have set themself on fire outside the Manhattan criminal court where Donald Trump’s criminal trial is under way.

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Videos online appeared to show the person being engulfed in flames as authorities including New York police rushed to extinguish the flames.

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After days of jury selection, the court has finally chosen all 12 jurors and 6 alternate jurors who will decide the fate of Donald Trump in his historic criminal trial.

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The selection of all 18 jurors came not without setbacks, as judge Juan Merchan dismissed two seated jurors earlier this week over identity and credibility concerns.

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With the jury bench now full, the trial is expected to move towards opening statements next week.

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A fifth alternate juror has been chosen.

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One more left to go.

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A fourth alternate juror has been chosen.

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The court now needs to just fill up two more alternate seats.

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A third alternate juror has been chosen, just minutes after the confirmation of the second alternate juror.

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Three more alternate seats are left to be filled.

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Another alternate juror has been chosen.

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Four alternate juror seats still to be filled.

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The court has resumed after a short break, with five alternate jurors yet to be selected.

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Donald Trump is back in the courtroom seated at the defense table next to his lawyers in the chilly Manhattan courthouse.So far today the former president has demanded a court-imposed gag order be removed, appeared to doze off in court and watched as potential alternate jurors answered questions.

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A full jury of 12 people and one of six alternate jurors was seated on Thursday.

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House Democrats came to the rescue of Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, in a rare move for a committee that normally votes along party lines, in order to save the Ukraine aid legislation from rightwing rebels.

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Johnson now looks set to push forward this weekend on a $95bn aid bill for Kyiv, Israel, Taiwan and other allies, which has stalled in the House after passing the Senate. This despite a firestorm of protest from hardline Republicans that could lead to an attempt to oust him. The House is expected to vote as early as Saturday on the aid legislation that provides $61bn to address the conflict in Ukraine, including $23bn to replenish US weapons, stocks and facilities; $26bn for Israel, including $9.1bn for humanitarian needs, and $8.12bn for the Indo-Pacific.

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Republicans hold a narrow House majority, 218-213 , a margin so scant that Mike Gallagher is postponing his mid-session retirement, originally set for Friday, so the Republican representative can be present to vote for the bill.

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On Thursday night, the four Democrats on the House rules committee voted with five Republicans to advance the aid package that Johnson has devised, agreeing procedures, which could now go forward to a vote on the House floor on Friday ahead of voting on the legislation itself.

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The rules committee would normally be a safely partisan affair for the Republican majority, but Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas, all on the far right, are voting against advancing the bill, prompting Democrats to step in to save it. Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker, put them on the committee to placate the far-right contingent of his caucus in the House.

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Here’s a look at some of the people who are likely to play a key role in the case.

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Key figures

Donald Trump

Defendant

Michael Cohen

Trump’s former personal counsel

Stormy Daniels

Adult film star

Karen McDougal

Former Playboy model

Dylan Howard

Editor-in-chief of National Enquirer

David Pecker

Former CEO of American Media Inc

Jeffrey McConney

Former controller of the Trump Organization

Allen Weisselberg

Former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization

Lawyers and judges

Todd Blanche

Trump’s lawyer

Alvin Bragg

Manhattan district attorney

n n

Juan Merchan

Acting judge of the New York supreme court

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Meanwhile, the overflow courtroom was once again abuzz with whispers about Donald Trump’s soporific state.

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Just 10 minutes into trial this morning, it appears that his eyes lowered, prompting the perennial question: Did he doze off again?

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He’s since spoken to two of his lawyers, so whatever cat-nap the former commander-in-chief might have enjoyed was brief.

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Judge Juan Merchan is also now inside the courtroom and the court is in session.

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Donald Trump is sitting at the defense table along with his lawyers, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Susan Necheles.

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Sitting in the back row of the courtroom are Trump aide Steven Cheung and lawyer Cliff Robert, who was one of Trump’s main attorney’s in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial.

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Donald Trump, speaking to reporters before entering the Manhattan courthouse, once again railed against the hush-money case and called on judge Juan Merchan to remove the gag order against him because it’s “very, very unfair”. Trump said:

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n

The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me and I have a gag order, just to show you how much more unfair it is.

n

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He added:

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n

They’ve taken away my constitutional rights to speak and that includes speaking to you. I have a lot to say to you. And I’m not allowed to say it and I’m the only one.

n

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Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are looking to fine Trump over violating his gag order after disparaging witnesses in the case on social media. A hearing is set for next week.

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Good morning US politics readers. Donald Trump is set to appear in a Manhattan courtroom for the fourth day of his hush-money trial, where a dozen jurors and one alternate have already selected to sit on the first criminal trial of a former president in US history.

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Five alternates remain to be chosen before jury selection wraps up and the presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan, has suggested that opening statements could begin as early as Monday.

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Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of the alleged effort to cover up hush money paid to adult actor Stormy Daniels. Trump also faces other trials involving his actions on January 6, attempts to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia and charges related to his keeping of classified documents at his resort in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, after he had left office.

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Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know

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A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far

The jurors: who is on the Trump trial jury?

The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump

How will Trump’s trial work?

From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

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Here’s what else we’re watching:

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House Democrats came to the rescue of Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, in a rare move on Thursday night in order to save the Ukraine aid legislation from right wing rebels.

Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, is in Capri, Italy, for Group of Seven meetings of foreign ministers.

Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary, is in meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington.

12pm ET. Joe Biden will deliver remarks at the IBEW construction and maintenance conference.

1.30pm. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief.

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A full jury of 12 people has been seated in the criminal case against Donald Trump, bringing the first criminal trial of a former president a significant step closer to beginning. At least one of six alternate jurors had been selected before court concluded on Thursday.

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The development came aftertwo jurors were removed, underscoring the difficulty of choosing a jury in one of the most high-stakes cases in US history.

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A woman known only as “Juror Two” appeared briefly before judge Juan Merchan to say that she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been described in the media and had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified. The judge excused her.

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Her dismissal came as reporters have been hanging on every detail they can glean about the 12 jurors who will determine Trump’s criminal fate. Fox News’s Jesse Watters also did a segment on Tuesday that directly attacked the jurors, including Juror Two. “I’m not so sure about Juror No 2,” Watters said on his show on Tuesday.

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A second juror was excused after prosecutors expressed concerns that he may not have been truthful on his jury questionnaire about his criminal history.

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Prosecutors told Merchan that in researching the juror, they had discovered that someone with the same name was arrested decades ago for tearing down posters supportive of the political right. They also said it appeared his wife had been involved in an anti-corruption probe with the district attorney.

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The juror appeared in court on Thursday for two lengthy conversations with Merchan and lawyers for both sides. Merchan sealed the conversation, saying it was personal, and then excused the juror.

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Key events

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We’re wrapping up our live coverage of Trump’s hush-money trial for the day.

For more on today’s developments:

Donald Trump has yet again decried the proceedings in New York as a “witch- hunt”, a term the former president has returned to repeatedly to describe his legal troubles.

“This is really a concerted witch-hunt, very simple,” Trump said to reporters on Friday afternoon after the trial wrapped for the day.

The former president complained of his treatment in New York, criticizing the judges who heard his earlier New York civil fraud trial and defamation case, and describing the hush-money trial as an “outrage” designed to hurt his campaign for the White House.

Trump has routinely used his legal troubles to rally supporters and spread conspiracy theories.

Reuters has more details about the 12 jurors and six alternates who have been selected in Trump’s hush money trial, which will be the first criminal trial in history of a former US president

There are seven men and five women on the jury. They are mostly employed in white-collar professions and the jury includes two corporate lawyers, a software engineer, a speech therapist and an English teacher. Most are not native New Yorkers, and instead hail from across the United States and countries such as Ireland and Lebanon.

The Guardian has more information on the jury:

Summary

Here is where the day stands:

After days of jury selection, the court has finally chosen all 12 jurors and 6 alternate jurors who will decide the fate of Donald Trump in his historic criminal trial. The selection of all 18 jurors came not without setbacks, as judge Juan Merchan dismissed two seated jurors earlier this week over identity and credibility concerns.
Judge Juan Merchan told Donald Trump’s defense team – which has repeatedly challenged and re-challenged rulings he has made – to stop trying to have another bite at the apple. “At this point, what’s happened is defense is literally targeting individual decisions, one by one by one by one, and filing pre-motion letters,” Merchan said, adding that opening statements are going to happen on Monday morning.
The prosecutors previously submitted documents indicating that they wanted to ask Donald Trump about a variety of trials should he testify, to challenge his credibility as a witness. These include sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll’s defamation cases against him. As the hearing progressed, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove said that asking Trump about the verdict in Carroll’s cases on cross-examination would be “unacceptable.”
A man set himself on fire outside the Manhattan criminal court where Donald Trump’s criminal trial was under way. The man has been identified as Maxwell Azarello who was born in 1987. According to his driver’s license, he is from St Augustine, Florida.
Maxwell Azarello has been described as a “conspiracy theorist” by police and had pamphlets on scene which police described as “propaganda-based.” He is in critical condition at Weill Cornell’s burn unit.
House Democrats came to the rescue of Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, in a rare move for a committee that normally votes along party lines, in order to save the Ukraine aid legislation from rightwing rebels. Johnson now looks set to push forward this weekend on a $95bn aid bill for Kyiv, Israel, Taiwan and other allies, which has stalled in the House after passing the Senate.

Court has ended for the day.

It will resume on Monday when opening statements are expected to take place.

Victoria Bekiempis

Judge Juan Merchan is telling Donald Trump’s defense team – which has repeatedly challenged and re-challenged rulings he has made – to stop trying to have another bite at the apple.

“At this point, what’s happened is defense is literally targeting individual decisions, one by one by one by one, and filing pre-motion letters,” Merchan said.

“As the people suggested a minute ago, that has to end. There comes a point when you accept my rulings,” Merchan said, adding that proceedings were not going to be bogged down.

“We’re going to have opening statements Monday morning,” Merchan said, “This trial is starting.”

Victoria Bekiempis

The prosecutors previously submitted documents indicating that they wanted to ask Donald Trump about a variety of trials should he testify, to challenge his credibility as a witness.

These include sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll’s defamation cases against him. As the hearing progressed, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove said that asking Trump about the verdict in Carroll’s cases on cross-examination would be “unacceptable.”

Bove, who reiterated Trump’s denial of Carroll’s claim and said it “very much did not happen,” said the allegations were “too far back in time” to be used in any potential challenge to Trump’s credibility.

Moreover, Bove argued, “To bring up Ms Carroll’s allegations at this trial sort of pushes the salaciousness on to another level. This is a case about documents.”

The prosecution insisted: “That’s critical, critical evidence that the jury ought to be able to consider…if he testifies.”

Victoria Bekiempis

Right now, the prosecution and defense are squaring off over what Donald Trump could be asked by prosecutors during cross-examination if he took the witness stand.

NYPD: ‘we do not believe this was targeting any particular person or a particular group’

“We do have a vehicle identified that’s connected to him. We’re currently searching that car,” police said.

“All of his social media is going to be scrubbed. Obviously we didn’t know him prior to this incident,” police said.

Police added, “As of right now, he’s very critical. His condition is not good” and went on to say that they did not see any criminal history of Maxwell Azarello in New York.

Police also said Maxwell Azarello did not breach security protocols but noted, “Of course we’re going to review our security protocols.”

“We’ll talk with our federal partners and we’ll make decisions if we need to tighten up security. Maybe we’ll shut down the park. That is something that will determine once we talk with all our partners,” police added.

Speaking about the pamphlets found at the scene, police said that the “pamphlets seem to be propaganda-based, almost like a conspiracy theory type of pamphlets.”

Police added that they spoke to Maxwell Azarello’s family members who said that they were unaware “that he was even in New York.”

Police also said they believe Azarello arrived in New York “some time earlier in the week.”

Man who set self on fire is alive in critical condition, police say

NYPD is now briefing the press about the man who is in the Weill Cornell burn unit in critical condition.

The man has been identified as Maxwell Azarello who was born in 1987. According to his driver’s license, he is from St Augustine, Florida.

According to police, the accelerant that was used “appears to be some kind of alcohol-based substance that’s used for cleaning.”

New York police is set to deliver a press conference soon on the latest incident outside the courthouse involving the man who appeared to have set himself on fire.

We will bring you the latest updates.