Trump arrives in court for third day of hush-money trial as jury selection continues – live

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‘We have our jury,’ judge Juan Merchan said after all 12 jurors were selected

All twelve juror confirmations came after a few setbacks, including the removal of two earlier jurors on Thursday.

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

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  • 12 jurors have been selected for Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial. One alternate juror has also been selected, with jury selection for five more alternates to resume tomorrow morning. The confirmations came after two jurors were removed from the jury earlier on Thursday.

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  • The first juror dismissed said she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been targeted by Fox News host Jesse Watters, and said she had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified.

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  • The second juror was excused after prosecutors expressed concerns that he may not have been truthful on his jury questionnaire. Prosecutors noted they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters.

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  • Prosecutors accused Trump of violating a gag order seven additional times. They have already filed a previous request to sanction him for breaking the order and a hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week.

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  • Judge Juan Merchan asked the media to stop reporting physical descriptions about potential jurors, concerned about their anonymity. Earlier this week he admonished Trump against intimidating jurors.

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That’s it as we wrap the blog up for today. Thank you for following along.

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All twelve juror confirmations came after a few setbacks, including the removal of two earlier jurors on Thursday.

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All 12 jurors have been seated.

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Here are the details for the last two jurors who were selected: B500, seat 16 (juror 11) and B440, seat 17 (juror 12).

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The jury selection has now moved on to choosing six alternate jurors.

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Three more jurors have been seated, bringing the total number of confirmed jurors to 10.

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According to a trial pool report, the juror details are: B639, seat 8 (juror 8), B423, seat 12 (juror 9) and B789, seat 14 (juror 10).

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Two jurors have been seated to backfill the empty spots that were left by two other jurors who were removed earlier.

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According to a trial pool report, the jurors are B565 (juror number 2) and B470 (juror number 4).

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Several members of the Kennedy family have joined Biden on the campaign trail in Philadelphia today to give a ringing endorsement of the current president, publicly rejecting their own family member Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., who is also running for the nation’s highest office.

Kerry Kennedy, sister of RFK Jr. and daughter of the late RFK Sr., took the stage to give “unwavering support” to Biden on behalf of her family.

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She called Biden her hero and said: “Joe Biden is always running into the flames so that we don’t have to.”

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The court is taking a lunch break and will resume at 2.15pm ET. Here’s what has happened so far:

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  • Two jurors were removed from the jury on Thursday, meaning only five jurors currently remain seated in the case. There will eventually be 12 jurors and six alternates.

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  • The first juror dismissed said she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been targeted by Fox News host Jesse Waters, and said she had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified.

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  • The 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 also accused Trump of violating a gag order seven additional times. They have already filed a previous request to sanction him for breaking the order and a hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week.

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  • Trump arrived at the Manhattan criminal court in the morning for the third day of his hush-money trial and a continuation of jury selection. The former president sat expressionless throughout the session Thursday morning, and appeared attentive.

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  • Judge Merchan asked the media to stop reporting physical descriptions about potential jurors, concerned about their anonymity.

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A potential juror was just excused after saying he’s from Italy and Italian media makes strong associations between Donald Trump and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

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The juror said upon further reflection, he didn’t think he could be fair and was excused.

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Juror 4 has been excused, meaning that two jurors have been withdrawn today.

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The juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns about the accuracy of his answers. Judge Merchan said:

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He does not need to come back and should not come back Monday morning.

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The man was summoned back to court today to answer questions after prosecutors said they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters.

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Prosecutors had also disclosed that the man’s wife may have been involved in a corruption inquiry and cooperated with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.

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There are now five seated jurors remaining.

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All of the lawyers are at a bench conference with Justice Merchan and Donald Trump is sitting at the defense table, alone.

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There are no aides and the Secret Service agents are in the row behind him.

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It’s a striking and unusual image of a president isolated. Trump is expressionless.

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Before the new panel of potential jurors entered the courtroom, Judge Merchan said he had concerns about one of the selected jurors and how truthfully the person had answered questions.

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One of the questions on the juror questionnaire asks if the potential juror or any of their family members were accused of a crime. Under questioning earlier this week, Juror 4 had said he hadn’t been convicted of a crime.

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Prosecutors found an article from the 1990s about a person with the same name as the juror who was arrested for tearing down political advertisements. The posters were on the political right, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.

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Steinglass also disclosed that the man’s wife may have been involved in a corruption inquiry and cooperated with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.

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Judge Merchan noted that he had instructed the man to come to court this morning to answer questions and verify whether the people involved were him or his relative. He noted the juror’s apparent “reluctance to come in” and asked both sides if they would consent to having him removed without further inquiry.

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Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined, saying he wanted to first hear from the man before deciding to dismiss him.

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The juror who withdrew was targeted by Jesse Watters, the Fox News host, on Tuesday evening.

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Watters said on his show:

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I’m not so sure about juror No. 2.

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Watters spoke directly about the juror during his show and questioned whether she could really be fair.

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The juror told Justice Juan Merchan on Thursday she had been contacted by friends and family asking if she was a juror.

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Donald Trump’s lawyers are asking Judge Juan Merchan to force Stormy Daniels to comply with the subpoena. In their filing, they included a photo they said process server Dominic DellaPorte took of Daniels as she strode away.

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Daniels’s lawyer Clark Brewster claims they never received the paperwork. He described the requests as an “unwarranted fishing expedition” with no relevance to Trump’s criminal trial. Brewster wrote in a 9 April letter to Merchan:

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The process – instituted on the eve of trial – appears calculated to cause harassment and/or intimidation of a lay witness.

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Daniels is expected to testify about a $130,000 payment she got in 2016 from one of Trump’s lawyers at the time, Michael Cohen, in order to stop her from speaking publicly about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier.

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Prosecutors are submitting another order to show cause, saying that Donald Trump has violated the gag order seven more times, starting on Monday.

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Trump’s new posts came after prosecutors initially sought a $3,000 fine on Monday for three other Truth Social posts.

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One links to a NYPost article calling Michael Cohen a “serial perjurer” and the case “an embarrassment for the New York legal system, per pool.

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Prosecutor Chris Conroy also notes “the most disturbing post” that Trump posted on social media quoting Jesse Watters on Fox News that they are “catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge” in order to get on the jury. “It’s ridiculous and has to stop,” Conroy says.

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The defense argues that reporting statements from others should not violate the gag order.

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Judge Merchan does not make an immediate ruling, saying he will wait for a hearing on the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over Trump’s posts scheduled for 23 April.

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Judge Merchan says Juror 2 contacted the court and said she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial. This is the oncology nurse from the Upper East Side.

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Speaking in court, she says she “definitely has concerns now” about what has been reported about her publicly.

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She says she had friends, colleagues and family conveying to her that she had been identified as a potential juror.

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Donald Trump has taken his seat at the defense table in Manhattan criminal court for day three of the criminal hush money trial against him.

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He is talking on his cell phone.

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Good morning US politics readers. Donald Trump is due to return to Manhattan court this morning as the process continues in the jury selection for the former president’s historic trial and one of the most high-profile criminal cases in US history.

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So far, seven people have been selected after two days of intense grilling by prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers that has sifted through prospective jurors’ political views, personal lives and social media posts to decide who gets to sit in judgment over Trump just months before his upcoming rematch with Joe Biden in the November general election.

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Five more jurors and six alternates remain to be chosen. 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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Here’s what else we’re watching:

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    n

  • Joe Biden is traveling to Philadelphia, where he is scheduled to participate in a number of campaign events before returning to the White House

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  • Biden is expected to receive the formal endorsement of a large contingent of the Kennedy family who have shunned independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, the Biden campaign has said.

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  • Kamala Harris will take part in a conversation about gun violence prevention ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.

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  • 10am ET. Alejandro Mayorkas, the US secretary of homeland security, will testify before the homeland security and governmental affairs committee.

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  • 12pm. The Senate will meet to take up the motion to proceed to the Fisa section 702 reauthorization, with a cloture vote at 1pm.

    • n

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Key events

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Summary

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

  • 12 jurors have been selected for Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial. One alternate juror has also been selected, with jury selection for five more alternates to resume tomorrow morning. The confirmations came after two jurors were removed from the jury earlier on Thursday.

  • The first juror dismissed said she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been targeted by Fox News host Jesse Watters, and said she had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified.

  • The second juror was excused after prosecutors expressed concerns that he may not have been truthful on his jury questionnaire. Prosecutors noted they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters.

  • Prosecutors accused Trump of violating a gag order seven additional times. They have already filed a previous request to sanction him for breaking the order and a hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week.

  • Judge Juan Merchan asked the media to stop reporting physical descriptions about potential jurors, concerned about their anonymity. Earlier this week he admonished Trump against intimidating jurors.

That’s it as we wrap the blog up for today. Thank you for following along.

Sam Levine

Donald Trump was looking down at his hands on the table in front of him as judge Juan Merchan outlined next steps moving towards opening statements, which he hopes will be Monday.

The confirmed jurors looked somber as they were sworn in, raising their right hands and swearing to hear the case in a “fair and impartial manner,” according to a trial pool report.

Judge Juan Merchan said that jury selection for alternate jurors will continue on Friday and that he remains hopeful that the case will proceed to opening statements on Monday.

‘We have our jury,’ judge Juan Merchan said after all 12 jurors were selected

All twelve juror confirmations came after a few setbacks, including the removal of two earlier jurors on Thursday.

An alternate juror has been picked.

According to a trial pool report, the details of the first chosen alternate juror are: B714, seat 18 (alternate 1).

All 12 jurors seated

All 12 jurors have been seated.

Here are the details for the last two jurors who were selected: B500, seat 16 (juror 11) and B440, seat 17 (juror 12).

The jury selection has now moved on to choosing six alternate jurors.

Three more jurors selected, bringing total of confirmed jurors to 10 so far

Three more jurors have been seated, bringing the total number of confirmed jurors to 10.

According to a trial pool report, the juror details are: B639, seat 8 (juror 8), B423, seat 12 (juror 9) and B789, seat 14 (juror 10).

Two jurors chosen to take place of dismissed jurors

Two jurors have been seated to backfill the empty spots that were left by two other jurors who were removed earlier.

According to a trial pool report, the jurors are B565 (juror number 2) and B470 (juror number 4).

Susan Necheles challenged the potential juror who stayed at her house overnight fifteen years ago, according to a trial pool report.

Necheles also pointed to the potential juror’s husband who reviewed New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman’s book on Donald Trump’s crimes.

Judge Juan Merchan asked the potential juror about her and her husband’s friendship with Necheles, to which the potential juror responded:

“About 15 years ago, I met her through my husband, they were both lawyers at the time… We went and stayed at her house.”

She went on to add that she has not spent time with Necheles since and would not have recalled the sleepover if her husband had not reminded her.

The potential juror said that her husband was a general counsel at a company and also reviews books.

Merchan also asked the potential juror if she discussed her husband’s opinion of Trump. In response, the potential juror said that they frequently talk about politics but did not discuss this particular case with him.

The potential juror also said that she could be fair, adding, “I should say I work in publishing also, and I have published voices on both sides, so I do believe everyone deserves a voice.”

After the potential juror left, Necheles renewed her objection, to which Merchan denied.

“She doesn’t really know you,” Merchan said. In response, Necheles said that she did not remember her until her husband reminded her.

“And she had to be reminded of that, yes?” Merchan said, adding, “Your challenge for cause is denied,” according to the trial pool report.

Sam Levine

Donald Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles is moving to strike a potential juror for cause because the woman stayed at her house overnight 15 years ago.

Following a quick departure from his bench, judge Juan Merchan returned, saying:

“We started the day with seven, and unfortunately we’re down to five,” according to a trial pool report.

Attorneys are also set to make “for cause” challenges on several of the 18 potential jurors who were questioned earlier.

Judge Juan Merchan has sworn in another group of potential jurors and instructed them to appear at the courthouse at 11:30am on Friday.

According to trial pool reports, Merchan apologized to group for having to wait around all day with nothing happening.

Donald Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles questioned a potential juror on her thoughts towards the former president, according to a trial pool report.

“I don’t have strong opinions, but I don’t like his persona. How he presents himself in public,” the prospective juror said, adding, “I don’t like some of my coworkers but I don’t try to sabotage their work.” The jury box laughed in response.

The potential juror went on to add, “He seems very selfish and self serving… I don’t really appreciate that from any public servant.”

“It sounds a bit like what you’re saying is you don’t like him, based on what you’re saying,” Necheles said, to which the potential juror responded, “Yes.”

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