PBP: P01135809 Trump Espionage, Coup, Conspiracy, Racketeering, Fraud & Obstruction Trial Thread

WaPo live feed

Before jurors were brought in, prosecutors said former president Donald Trump had violated the judge’s gag order “seven more times” in recent days by repeatedly highlighting articles and tweets disparaging witness Michael Cohen’s credibility and that of the jurors selected on the second day of the trial.
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Also

From the new batch of 96 potential jurors being questioned Thursday, 48 were summarily excused because they said they cannot be fair and impartial.​

 

WaPo live feed

Things are getting messy.

Juror 4 arrived in the courthouse shortly before noon; he was supposed to get there at 9:15.

Prosecutors flagged him as a concern because someone with his name was arrested in the 1990s for tearing down right-wing posters and is married to a woman who entered a deferred prosecution agreement over corruption charges.

The questioning was done at the bench, so reporters could not hear what was said. But his answers prompted some chuckling from Trump attorney Todd Blanche.​

I can imagine in a situation like this, that it is stress which caused the delay. For what ever reason.

 

If it was a violation of speech, sure.

 

No, I'm thinking campaign speech. I'm not sure what it would actually be called (perhaps vandalism?) but I recall people being charged for stealing political yard signs.

 

We have 12.

 

This morning, as always, from the WaPo live feed.

As of starting this morning, there were 12 jurors, and 1 alternate. But...

A potential juror who initially said she could be neutral has changed her mind — the third time that has happened during jury selection. “I want to be; I had every intention” of staying unbiased, she said. But “after some introspection” and listening to the questions asked of others, she decided that “I can’t be impartial.”​

Not clear if this is one of the 13 or one of the potential alternates.

As prospective jurors answered a list of written questions — a somewhat tedious part of the process — Donald Trump lowered his eyes for stretches, but didn’t appear to be asleep. When a potential juror mentioned she’d read his book, he immediately turned to look at her.​

And the courtroom is cold.

 

More from WaPo live feed:

A common theme among potential jurors is that no one, including former president Donald Trump, is above the law.

“Everyone is equal under the law,” said one member of the panel. He explained that he is originally from Scandinavia, where there is less “difference between people in power and” regular citizens. “That is very important to me.”​

Can the media stop giving out information about the jurors.

 

Flipping through the CNN live feed, and they are also identifying jurors.

Example:

A potential juror is a [employment] who grew up in [state]. She is [marriage status] [kids or not] and says she likes to [do leisure things]. She says she attended the [description] march and posted on her [social media] about it. She says she read [newspapers], watches [a news station] and listens to podcasts about [subjects].​

She also like long walks along the beach and mid-day coffee. [/sarcasm]

Might as well publish her address.

 

Maybe 1 or 2 more. But the real issue will be post conviction.