Update – 10:15 am Eastern:
The questioning of prospective jurors is underway after a brief delay in which a couple of the jurors were late and another indicated she was sick and was excused. Another prospective juror has informed the court he does not feel he can be impartial and is being excused.
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New Seat 10: I review Social Security cases. 34? No. 42? No.
Justice Merchant: Thank you.
Seat 11: I don’t think I can be impartial.
Judge Merchant: We’re going to excuse you. Let’s refill Seat 11, please.
Clerk: Re-filling seat 11, B311.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 16, 2024
Update – 9:45 am Eastern:
Ordinarily, we’d forego an update of this sort, but this one’s too fun not to share. Are you ready? Trump winked at court officers on his way into the courtroom.
Donald Trump entered the courtroom at 9:30 a.m. ET, according to pool reports. While he walked down the aisle, he winked at one of the court officers and mouthed, “How are you?”
Update – 9:33 am Eastern:
Former President Trump starts the day with some harsh criticisms regarding the trial and the judge.
Trump also addressed the cameras and reporters outside the courtroom briefly before heading in to begin the day’s proceedings, noting that he should be out campaigning rather than sitting in a courtroom all day.
“I should be right now in Pennsylvania, in Florida, in many other states, in North Carolina, Georgia, campaigning. This is all coming form the Biden White House because the guy an’t put two sentences together,” Trump said.
Watch the coverage via live stream:
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Tuesday marks the second day of trial for former President Donald Trump in Manhattan on the “hush money” case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Monday saw a host of preliminary motions heard and ruled on, followed by the start of jury selection, with 96 prospective jurors brought in for the initial round of questioning, many of whom were excused from service (for cause) after indicating they did not believe they could be fair and impartial or that they had other substantive conflicts. The questioning of prospective jurors will continue today and may take up to a week or longer before the 12 jurors and six alternates are seated.
Stay tuned here as we bring you live updates of the day’s developments in the case.
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