Both of the excused jurors were replaced later in the afternoon as a new cohort of 96 Manhattan residents filled the courtroom. Half of the new group — 48 — said they could not be impartial and were immediately excused.
Thank you for clarifying that half of 96 is 48, CBS News. I’d never have figured that incredibly important detail myself.
On the bright side, it’s helping him less and less. Everyone knows what to expect, and this judge doesn’t seem to be very tolerant of his bullshit.
Before court ended for the day, Trump's attorney Todd Blanche asked if the defense could find out the names of the first three witnesses prosecutors plan to call to the stand. Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, replied that doing so is a courtesy they normally extend, but refused in this case.
"Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses. We're not telling them who the witnesses are," Steinglass said.
Merchan said he "can't blame them." Blanche seemed mystified, and asked if the defense is not going to find out who the witnesses are until they walk in the door. He offered to "commit to the court and the [prosecution] that President Trump will not [post] about any witness" on Truth Social, Trump's social media platform.
"I don't think you can make that representation," Merchan said.
Blanche offered another solution: giving the witness names only to the lawyers, who wouldn't share them with Trump.
"I'm not going to order them to do it, no," said Merchan. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
“I’m supposed to be in New Hampshire. I’m supposed to be in Georgia. I’m supposed to be in North Carolina. South Carolina,” the presumptive Republican nominee for president said in the hallway outside the courtroom. “I’m supposed to be a lot of different places, campaigning. But I’ve been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trial.”
Shit thing is that I’ll be surprised as hell if there isn’t at least one person on that jury that will refuse to vote guilty, no matter how damning the evidence is.
I fully believe that at least one, and probably several, of those jurrors are faking their impartiality. I wouldn’t, but only because I have a digital fingerprint hating on Trump that’s about 9 years old now (even I lived in NYC which hell fuck no I don’t.)
Sorry to be unclear. I was at work and typing quickly. The man I called the “possible corruption guy” was mentioned in the story:
Prosecutors also raised concerns about Juror #4, saying they discovered information about someone sharing the person's name who was arrested and potentially involved in a corruption investigation in the 1990s. The man arrived late to court and was briefly questioned by attorneys in front of the judge, out of earshot from the court's microphones. Merchan ultimately decided to dismiss the man.
And by “except for the alternates” I was referring to this bit:
The selection process will continue Friday, since six alternate jurors are needed before the trial can move to opening arguments. One alternate had been selected as of Thursday afternoon.
Anyway, thank you for asking. If you were confused, I expect others were, too.
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