Jury selection in the nation’s first-ever criminal trial of a current or former U.S. president was set to kick off on Monday, with a ragtag batch of Trump supporters gathered outside Manhattan Criminal Court.
Supporters were vastly outnumbered by members of the press, along with a small group of counterprotesters holding signs reading, variously, “Not above the law,” “Election interference is a crime,” and “Tick tock, time’s up.”
Inside, prosecutors Matthew Colangelo, Susan Hoffinger, and Joshua Steinglass arrived several minutes before former President Donald Trump, who is facing state felony charges stemming from a $130,000 hush money payment in October 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels over an affair the two allegedly had. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg in April 2023 hit Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
A scowling Trump showed up in the sparsely attended courtroom, looked around, and took a seat with defense attorneys Susan Necheles, Emil Bove, and Todd Blanche.
“During the election, Trump and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” the charges read. “Trump then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.” (A so-called catch-and-kill scheme is one in which the subject of an unflattering story conspires with a publisher to buy the rights to a story in order to deep-six it so it never sees the light of day.)
“The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” Bragg said in an announcement at the time. “Manhattan is home to the country’s most significant business market. We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct. As the Statement of Facts describes, the trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws. As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.”
Trump has denied the allegations.
According to a jury questionnaire released publicly by Judge Juan Merchan, the prospective jurors will be asked about their media consumption, any affiliations with organizations such as QAnon and the Proud Boys, and if they have ever read books by former Trump lawyer-turned-whistleblower Michael Cohen.
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