Trump looks to weed out jurors over political social media posts
Lawyers for former President Trump are using social media posts made by prospective jurors and their spouses to attempt to excuse them from the jury pool in his hush money trial.
The lawyers played videos in court in Manhattan Tuesday, using the social media posts as a signal the jurors may hold anti-Trump sentiments and thus cannot be fair and impartial during a trial.
One juror Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss had a video posted to her Facebook that captured celebrations in upper Manhattan following the declaration of President Biden capturing the 2020 election.
The juror said the celebrations she captured were reminiscent of the cheers for health care workers that erupted in the evenings during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, according to a pool report.
However, she said that – “regardless of my thoughts about anyone or anything” the job of a juror is to “understand the facts of a trial and to be the judge of those facts. The judge did not dismiss her after she insisted she could still be an impartial juror.
“Yesterday… people walked out because they thought they couldn’t,” she added. “I don’t believe that about myself at all.” The judge thanked her, and she walked back up the aisle and out of the courtroom.
A second juror, however, was excused for cause for a social media post that celebrated Trump’s legal loss over a travel ban enacted while he was president.
“Good news!! Trump lost his court battle on his unlawful travel ban!!!,” the juror wrote, according to the pool. “Get him out, and lock him up.”
“This is a person who has expressed the desire…that Mr. Trump be locked up,” Merchan said, adding that if Trump is found guilty he faces a potential jail sentence, according to the pool.
The juror was asked by the DA’s office if he still believed Trump should be locked up, in which the man answered “no.” Trump then craned his neck toward the juror and flashed him a smirk, according to pool reporters.
Social media posts made by a potential juror’s husband drew the scrutiny of Trump’s lawyers.
Blanche pointed to social media a post showing a character from “The Simpsons” with Trump’s head in its hands, a post depicting Trump and former President Obama that, per the judge, referenced “Orange is the New Black” and a post showing “The Avengers unite against Trump.”
Steinglass suggested that the posts, made in 2016 by the juror’s husband, were “humor.” But Merchan joked that it’s “not very good humor.”
The judge declined further inquiry, noting that the posts did not involve the juror and were made more than eight years ago. He said “if this is the worst thing you’re able to find about this juror,” it instills confidence in her ability to be fair and impartial.
Zach Schonfeld contributed.
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