Donald Trump arrives at the Manhattan court where he will be tried for the alleged payment of a bribe to a porn actress. The trial, presided over by Judge Juan Merchan, of Colombian origin, begins with the selection of the jury.
Trump is under a gag order, imposed by the judge in March and subsequently expanded. One of the prosecutors has indicated that they will ask the judge to declare the accused in contempt for his attacks on witnesses.. The process will end when the 12 regular members of the Jury and up to six alternates are chosen. The questionnaire to which the potential candidates will be submitted - a hundred this Monday - has been made public. The fact that all the candidates are residents of Manhattan, an eminently Democratic borough, may be a critical factor for the challenges of Trump's lawyers. It would not be the first time that Trump has dangerously bordered the line of contempt for the prosecution. The judge who investigated the civil fraud case - the continued fraud in his business, for which he has been sentenced to pay 464 million dollars - fined him on a couple of occasions for violating the silence order.