Jury selection got underway in Manhattan Monday in Michael Cohen’s lawsuit against the Trump Organization, in which the former president’s one-time fixer is demanding over $1 million in lawyers’ fees incurred in the years since their fallout.
Roughly half a pool of about 40 potential jurors shot their hands up when Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen asked whether they had any strong, negative, or positive opinions about the Trump clan and their family real estate business.
Five people put their hand up when asked if they were personally familiar with Donald Trump Jr., who’s expected to testify. Some prospective panelists giggled when the judge said the former president wouldn’t be called as a witness.
Cohen says his former employer afforded Don Jr. the same indemnification agreement he had in 2017 — wherein the company would pay their lawyers’ fees for work-related legal issues — but only one still has outstanding bills. He says Don Jr.’s lawyers were paid in some of the same matters he was involved in, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
The Trump Organization contends Cohen’s agreement was voided because of the federal crimes he pleaded guilty to in 2018 and efforts he took to save himself. Cohen served three years in federal custody for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels at Trump’s behest before the 2016 election, tax-related offenses, and lying to Congress.
His lawyers say the Trump Organization didn’t pay his legal fees for issues arising from his lawful status as a company employee because he cooperated with investigators.
In recent months, judges in Manhattan’s three largest courthouses have surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers on their feelings about Trump.
Roughly 130 prospective jurors were questioned in the Trump Organization’s Manhattan criminal case last winter, ending in the company’s December conviction on tax fraud charges. In E. Jean Carroll’s civil sex abuse case against Trump, which he lost at trial in May, the court pooled about 48 people. The jury was anonymous in that case, with the judge citing Trump’s threatening public remarks about officials involved in cases against him and his allies in his decision to keep their identities secret.
And Trump still has three New York City trials to go as he vies for the presidency. State Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud case against the Trump Organization heads to trial in October, Carroll’s 2019 defamation lawsuit against Trump, which covers comments he made about her in office, goes on trial in January, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against Trump regarding the hush money scheme is slated for trial in March.
Cohen has provided extensive evidence against Trump in the AG and DA’s investigations. He’s planning to take the stand at his trial. Jurors will also hear from lawyers for Cohen and Trump and the Trump Organization’s general counsel Alan Garten, who recently faced questioning in federal court, where Trump is trying to move the DA’s hush money case.
Jury selection is expected to continue Tuesday. Cohen’s lawyer Hunter Winstead declined to comment. Lawyers for the Trump Organization could not be reached.
Judge Cohen, no relation to Michael, asked prospective jurors if anyone had seen anything anywhere about the case. Only two put up their hands.
“This is not the time to look it up,” the judge said.
