Donald Trump fumed Monday that his Manhattan hush money trial may force him to miss his son Barron’s high school graduation – and flashed a tight-lipped smirk as he stood to face the first pool of potential jurors who may decide his fate in the historic case.

“I 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, 77,  told reporters in the hallway of Manhattan Supreme Court after the first day of trial.

Trump’s attorneys had asked Justice Juan Merchan not to hold the trial on Friday, May 17 so the ex-president can attend Barron’s graduation at Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida.

https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/us-news/trump-fumes-that-judge-in-hush-money-trial-could-force-him-to-skip-son-barrons-graduation/

READ FROM TOP

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

NEW YORK: Dozens of jurors were instantly dismissed on the opening day of Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial after admitting they could not be impartial, fuelling the former US president’s claim that he may not get a fair hearing in the Democratic stronghold of Manhattan.

In a heavily fortified courtroom yesterday, Trump’s defence team and prosecutors began the exhaustive task of selecting a 12-person jury from a pool of about 500 people to take part in the case, but ended the day without a single person being picked.

‘‘I just couldn’t do it,’’ one prospective juror said after being dismissed by Judge Juan Merchan.

The sluggish start capped off an unprecedented day in which Trump became the first current or former US president to face a criminal trial.

The 77-year-old Republican has been charged with falsifying nearly three dozen business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who has said she had a brief sexual encounter with him in 2006.

Daniels had been trying unsuccessfully to sell the story of her liaison with Trump for several months. But on October 26, 2016 – days before the election and soon after Trump was caught on an Access Hollywood tape bragging about grabbing women by the genitals – Trump’s fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $US130,000 to remain silent.

Trump later reimbursed Cohen through his company, but allegedly disguised the payment as a legal retainer, thereby breaching campaign finance laws.

Speaking before he entered the courtroom, Trump described the trial again as an ‘‘assault on America’’ and ‘‘political persecution’’.

In a development that supporters say gives weight to Trump’s earlier bid to have the trial moved from Manhattan, more than half of the prospective jurors in the first group of 96 people to enter the court had to be excused after admitting they could not be fair and impartial.

Eighty-five per cent of Manhattan voters backed President Joe Biden in the last election. The jury selection process is now expected to take up to two weeks as potential jurors are grilled using a 42-part questionnaire probing everything from their political leanings to whether they followed Trump on social media or supported far-right groups such as the Proud Boys.

While Trump entered the courtroom telling reporters he was ‘‘very proud to be here’’, he spent much of the hearing looking unenthusiastic.

According to some court reporters with a clear view of him, he also at times seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open as lawyers engaged in back-and-forth arguments over what evidence should be permitted.

At one point, before he went on a lunch break and before jury selection began, it even seemed as though he had nodded off briefly, setting social media alight with jokes about ‘‘Sleepy Don’’.

‘‘Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack,’’ wrote award-winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

Before jury selection began, Trump’s legal team failed in a lastditch effort to remove Merchan from the case, partly because his daughter had worked as a Democratic political consultant. ‘‘There is no agenda here,’’ Merchan said as he rejected the bid, which would have further delayed the trial.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to fine Trump $US3000 ($4600) for violating a gag order after he made a reference on social media to Cohen and Daniels as ‘‘two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!’’

Merchan will rule on that request next week, but made a series of other rulings about what evidence could be brought into the case. This included rejecting a request by prosecutors to play the infamous Access Hollywood tape, but allowing them to ask questions about it. He also refused a request to include other allegations of sexual assault against Trump raised over the years, describing them as hearsay.

Farrah Tomazin

North America correspondent, SMH, 17/04/2024

READ FROM TOP

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....