The search for 18 fair and impartial jurors will begin next week in former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial.
Trump faces a 34-count felony indictment alleging that he falsified New York business records in order to conceal damaging information to influence the 2016 presidential election. Monday kicks off jury selection for the trial that is expected to last about six weeks — even as Trump campaigns to be president once again. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In total, 42 questions will be used to select 12 jurors and six alternates for the first-ever criminal trial featuring a former or sitting president. And this will be Trump’s first appearance in a trial since winning enough delegates to receive the GOP nomination.
till, jurors will not be asked for whom they have voted or will vote, nor will lawyers question them about their political affiliations or campaign contributions. New York Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, believes those views will be made clear through other questions.
Jurors will be asked to identify the online media, news and social media programs they use, podcasts they listen to and if they have ever considered themselves a supporter or a member of any of six white supremacist and extremist groups — including the QAnon movement, Proud Boys and Antifa.
They will also be asked about their business and political relationships with the former president and New York business mogul. Lawyers will ask if prospective jurors, a relative or a close friend ever worked for any company or organization that is owned or run by Trump or anyone in his family. And they will be asked if they have ever attended a rally or campaign event for Trump, volunteered for his campaign or been a part of any “anti-Trump” efforts.
These have all been questions similarly asked in Trump’s previous jury trials in Manhattan.
