Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York began Monday with little forward progress. No jurors were selected in the case as about half of those interviewed for the jury expressed anti-Trump sentiments.
No jurors were selected on the first day of the trial. One potential juror left the courtroom saying “I couldn’t do it.” At least 50 of the 96 potential jurors for the case were excused after stating that they could not be impartial in the case. Other potential jurors were let off due to other potential issues.
As of the end of Monday, 34 of the prospective jurors remain of whom the jury will be selected.
Following the end of the first day in court, the former president called the proceedings a “scam.”
“If you read all of the legal pundits or the legal scholars today, there’s not one that I’ve seen that said, ‘this is a case it should be brought or tried.’ It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt. It continues, and it continues forever. And we’re not going to be given a fair trial. It’s a very, very sad thing,” he said.
This NYC Trump Juror Pool will be like the O.J. Jury Pool pic.twitter.com/0pvrTBh2rm
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) April 15, 2024
The former president requested to be able to attend immunity hearings before the U.S. Supreme Court next week related to whether or not a former president could be prosecuted.
The court denied Trump’s request. He said that the immunity hearing was “something that we’ve been waiting for. A long time. And the judge, of course, is not going to allow us.”
Separately the former president said outside the courtroom and on social media that he would like to not be in court on Friday, May 17 so that he can attend the graduation of his son Barron.
The former president said that he “was looking forward to that graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge does not allow me to escape this scam.” Trump’s attorneys requested the exception in the trial date.
The judge stated that it depended “on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.”
