Donald Trump again blasted the judge in his hush money trial, before entering the courtroom for the long slog through jury selection.
In what is likely to be a routine moment for each day’s proceedings, the former president stopped in the hallway to make brief remarks to reporters, seizing on the media need for visuals given the restrictions on cameras in the courtroom itself.
Trump called Judge Juan Merchan a “Trump hating judge” who should be recused from the case. But Trump’s legal team’s efforts to remove Merchan have so far been rejected. Trump also again claimed that the case, involving hush money payments paid to Stormy Daniels in advance of the 2016 election, was orchestrated by Joe Biden. After his remarks, CNN quickly went to a fact check to note that they case as brought in the state of New York, not at the federal level, and by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Overnight, Trump also railed at some of the reporting on the trial’s first day, complaining of people “lying and spewing hate all day long” on TV. The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported that Trump dozed off at one moment during the proceedings, something that was quickly picked up by cable news and even late night comics.
Trump is under a partial gag order that prevents him from attacking the judge’s family and potential witnesses, among others.
The charges against Trump have to do with the recording of payments to his former attorney Michael Cohen as “legal expenses.” The indictment alleges that those expenses were actually reimbursement for hush money payments, and that it was part of a scheme to cover up damaging information in advance of the 2016 election.
Jury selection is expected to continue throughout the day today, with some 32 potential jurors remaining from an initial pool of 96. The process is slow, as each juror is given a list of 42 questions to answer as part of the voir dire process.
Outside the courthouse, the scene was quiet, with no demonstrators in the park across the street from the Manhattan complex.
