The search for a jury continues in the criminal trial surrounding Donald Trump's hush payments to Stormy Daniels. Trump's lawyers repeatedly argued Tuesday that old social media posts from many of the prospective jurors or their friends showed they were not open about their hostility toward him.
Prosecutors argued that old, stupid jokes on the Internet were not a reason to remove someone from the board. By day's end, seven people had been sworn in as jurors - more than a third of the total number required for a trial with a full jury and six alternates. The court will need to find 11 more jurors to decide Trump, meaning potential jurors will have more opportunities to weigh in on the embattled politician. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump conspired before the 2016 election to pay a porn actress to keep quiet about a sexual liaison with him that occurred years earlier. He then created false documents to hide the true purpose and source of the payment. A potential juror discussed how Trump, like any defendant, had the right not to testify if he didn't want to. A potential juror said she happened to see the celebration as she parked her car and recorded it for posterity without thinking it would affect her verdict in the case. A prospective juror had posted years earlier: "Good news!!! Trump lost the legal battle over his illegal travel ban!!!" Trump turned his neck at the juror and grinned. The judge excluded the man from the jury after he said he no longer believed Trump should be "locked up," to which he grinned and nodded his head. The jury is expected to begin deliberating in the trial in the next few days. The trial is set to last up to two weeks, with the verdict expected in mid-September.