Summary
Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
12 jurors have been selected for Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial. One alternate juror has also been selected, with jury selection for five more alternates to resume tomorrow morning. The confirmations came after two jurors were removed from the jury earlier on Thursday.
The first juror dismissed said she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been targeted by Fox News host Jesse Watters, and said she had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified.
The second juror was excused after prosecutors expressed concerns that he may not have been truthful on his jury questionnaire. Prosecutors noted they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters.
Prosecutors accused Trump of violating a gag order seven additional times. They have already filed a previous request to sanction him for breaking the order and a hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week.
Judge Juan Merchan asked the media to stop reporting physical descriptions about potential jurors, concerned about their anonymity. Earlier this week he admonished Trump against intimidating jurors.
That’s it as we wrap the blog up for today. Thank you for following along.
Donald Trump was looking down at his hands on the table in front of him as judge Juan Merchan outlined next steps moving towards opening statements, which he hopes will be Monday.
