Former President Donald Trump is unhappy with how the jury selection process is going in his Manhattan criminal trial.
"I thought STRIKES were supposed to be 'unlimited' when we were picking our jury? I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough when we were purposely given the 2nd Worst Venue in the Country," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. "Don't worry, we have the First Worst also, as the Witch Hunt continues! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"
On Tuesday, the jury selection process in Trump's Manhattan criminal trial continued. Trump was previously indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Bragg indicted Trump in April 2023, accusing the former president of "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing in the case. He was previously placed under a gag order after criticizing the daughter of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Seven jurors were selected on Tuesday after prosecutors and defense attorneys dismissed several dozen potential jurors in an effort to weed out any potential biases. Members of the jury pool were required to fill out a series of 42 questions and faced scrutiny from both sides of the case before being seated.
A total of 12 jurors are expected to be picked for the trial, as well as six alternative jurors.
During one point of the jury selection process on Tuesday, Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche brought up an issue with one of the potential juror's Facebook posts. Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press detailed a conversation on X, formerly Twitter, between Blanche and Judge Merchan about the possible juror.
"When the juror was asked for her opinion of President Trump, she said nothing. But when he lost the election, they celebrated on Facebook - they got in the car and spread the honking cheer," Russell Lee wrote, quoting Blanche.
Judge Merchan did not immediately excuse the juror in question and said that while he doesn't want a juror who speaks out against Trump, he noted that he believes the potential juror in question can be fair and impartial, as she said.
However, the juror was later dismissed after Trump's legal team used one of their preemptory strikes against her.
The Guardian reported Trump "nodded his head and offered a smile" in response to one potential juror saying he had read Trump's books, The Art of the Deal, How To Be Rich and Think Like a Champion.
The trial is not taking place on Wednesday but is expected to pick back up on Thursday, as the jury selection process will take several weeks.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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