OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump has appeared at a Manhattan courthouse all week and expressed his dissatisfaction with the ongoing criminal case against him.
The jury for the case was selected after four days of deliberation, and alternative jurors are yet to be seated. Trump is facing 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
“I’m supposed to be in New Hampshire, I’m supposed to be in Georgia, I’m supposed to be in North Carolina, in South Carolina, I’m supposed to be a lot of places campaigning. But I’ve been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trial. These are all stories, this is from the last few days,” Trump declared while holding a stack of news articles slamming his trial.
Trump also flipped through articles from the Wall Street Journal and National Review before referencing Fox News legal analysts in an attempt to clear his name.
“‘The whopping outrage in Trump’s indictment,’” he said, reading the headline from an article by Fox News’ Andrew McCarthy. He then cited two more Fox News analysts. “Jonathan Turley. Gregg Jarrett. Andrew McCarthy. Every one of them saying, they call it a zombie case, meaning it is no case. And they say it’s unconstitutional.”
After browsing through several more pages, Trump then griped about the temperature in the courtroom.
“And I’m sitting here for days now from morning until night in that freezing room,” he went on. “Everybody was freezing in there. And all for this. This is your result.”
WATCH:
🇺🇸TRUMP: THE WORLD IS WATCHING THIS HUSH-MONEY TRIAL HOAX
“You’ve got an out-of-control DA, a highly conflicted judge, and the whole thing is a mess.”
I thought there was a gag order in place?
Source: @bennyjohnson Fox News https://t.co/nAEbkOoHMO pic.twitter.com/N9FOqFnLHT
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 18, 2024
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money trial of Trump in New York City, chastised the media on Thursday for disclosing personally identifiable information about the jury.
According to MSNBC contributor Adam Klasfeld, Merchan spoke with the media directly following the expulsion of that juror. He told them that disclosing too much personal information about the jurors “defeats the purpose” of their anonymity, which is meant to shield them from outside pressures and ensure their safety.
“The press is certainly able and permitted to write about anything that’s on the record, because it’s on the record,” said Merchan. “But I’m directing that the press simply applies common sense.”
Merchan:
“But I’m directing that the press simply applies common sense.”
In an extraordinary order, the judge directs reporters not to report physically and audibly identifying information about the jury.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 18, 2024
Earlier on Thursday, Judge Merchan reaffirmed his ruling to exclude jurors from seeing footage from the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
Judge Juan Merchan stated to the court, “I remain convinced at this moment… that the tape should not come in.”
Before the 2016 election, a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced, which revealed Trump talking to host Billy Bush about his star power and the impact it had on women.
In March, Merchan stated that “it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury.” Merchan had previously denied that the prosecution could show the tape to the jurors.
Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, pushed back on Monday to present the video’s supporting documentation, claiming that it is “living proof that the defendant wasn’t all talk” and a “sexual assault admission.”
“That is more than just comments of a sexual nature,” Steinglass said, adding that when the video surfaced in 2016, it threw Trump’s presidential campaign into a “tailspin.”
Trump’s lawyer argued that the video was too explicit and biased to show to the jury.
“The people will get everything they need to prove the charges in this case from what your honor has already ruled,” Blanche said.
Merchan stated that jurors could not see the video, but prosecutors could play Trump’s exact words from the recording along with an email about it.
Trump is on trial in New York City on felony charges regarding a 2016 payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
In April of last year, Trump entered a not guilty plea to a 34-count indictment that accused him of fabricating business records concerning a hush money payment to Daniels that his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to her in an attempt to improve his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.
With a 6-8 week trial duration anticipated overall, jury selection may take up to two weeks.
