Trump's Trials - 12 jurors have been seated in Trump's hush money trial

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR political reporter Ximena Bustillo.After just three days of jury selection, 12 New Yorkers have been seated in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The 12 are made up of seven men and five women, all of whom said they could be fair and impartial to Trump. Judge Juan Merchan hopes to select five alternates on Friday. Opening statements could begin as early as Monday.Topics include:- Jury selection process - Trump in the courtroomFollow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Trials from NPR. I'm Scott Detro. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent to proven guilty in a court of law. We are here with an episode because there's some breaking news in one of former President Trump's cases. We will talk about it on a regular Saturday show, but first we want to share the story with you that just aired on NPR Today, right after this. This message comes from NPR sponsor Organic Valley, a co-op of small organic family farms.

Farmer Tyler Webb shares why caring for his land has always been a priority. I'd like to contribute to my community an array of ecosystem services beyond just milk. Building topsoil and holding on to water and supporting wildlife, to build that resilience that will support generations to come. Discover Organic Valley Dairy at ov.coop slash ethically sourced. You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detro. And now here's Mary Louise Kelly. Jury selection. It's nearing a close in Trump's New York criminal trial. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts that center around 11 hush money payments to adult

film actor Stormy Daniels. These payments were made ahead of the 2016 election. NPR political reporter, Jimena Bustillo has been in the courtroom here in Manhattan. And Jimena, how many jurors do we have so far? Jimena Bustillo, NPR Political Reporter, Manhattan, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York, New York jurors and one alternate coming out of today, but

they do need five alternates still. So there are a bit to go. That brings the total to six alternates. This morning, we also lost two jurors that were selected earlier in this week. So it is possible that the lineup is still fluid tomorrow. Okay. Now the goal now, as always, is a fair jury, an impartial jury. How are they deciding who will make it on? Juries have been brought in batches of 96, and we got one batch on Monday, and a new batch of about 100 will come in tomorrow. The first thing that the judge has been asking is for the jurors to raise their hands if they believe that they cannot be fair and impartial.

To this first question, you know, that weeds out a bunch of the jurors. Nearly half of both the first two batches raised their hands, and they were immediately told that they could leave. The next question is if they cannot serve for any other reason. And without question, a few others are dismissed. Then begins the process of reading the questionnaire. The jurors then go one by one, reading out their answers

to a 42 question list that asks them about their history their background education Occupation and their potential connections to the former president such as attending a campaign event or supporting him and his opponents Throughout this process Trump turns around and looks at the jurors He's often leaning over to talk to his lawyers and is in the process of doing this, too He's often leaning over to talk to his lawyers and is in the process of doing this too. Okay, so you said there's this questionnaire, 42 questions on it, but they're not limited just to asking about that, right? Correct, they are not. The Trump legal team has done their research on these jurors. On Tuesday there were some prospective jurors who were dismissed because of their social media history.

One was dismissed after a discussion of her husband's posts about Trump dating back to 2016 that were critical of the former president. And some jurors have continued to self-select out because of that responsibility to be fair and impartial. Earlier this week, a juror came back in to say that only after a night of restless sleep did she decide that she couldn't be impartial. And today, the third day of jury selection,

one selected juror voiced many concerns that reports in the media may have identified her, and that ability to identify her made her unsure that she'd be able to be fair and impartial. Hmm. And then I'm curious about the atmosphere, Jimena. I mean, Trump is there the whole time. How is that affecting the dynamic? Well, jurors are walking in and they do see the former president because this is a criminal

trial in New York law. The former president is required to be here every single day. And Trump was very attentive today and watched them as they answered their questions. Trump has also had a very long history in New York. So prospective jurors spoke about having watched him on The Apprentice or read his books But you know, you have to remember he's not really happy to be here He has been arguing that this trial is election interference because he is currently campaigning for president and he has pleaded not guilty And argues that he should be instead flying around the country campaigning, but his campaign is active on Tuesday night He made a campaign stop at a bodega in Harlem to talk about crime in the city. And he's expected to hold a rally in North Carolina on Saturday night. And Piers, Jimena Bustillo, thanks so much.

Thank you. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens. And we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday. I'm Scott Detro. This message comes from NPR sponsor Organic Valley, a co-op of small organic family farms. Dairy farmer Tyler Webb shares how he and his family work with nature to manage challenges on the farm. When I think of land stewardship, it's taking the opportunity to like slowly walk through your farm. To listen. To try to observe subtle patterns. When you're not reliant upon pesticides and herbicides and things to navigate your way

through farming, you're looking for ways to work in harmony with our ecosystem. From a pesticide perspective, you know, flies can be a concern. And so a lot of this bird habitat we have on the farm is because we're looking for tree swallows. They just cruise around all day long and eat flies. They come back every year in April and they put a big dent on the fly population during that period. Discover Organic Valley Dairy at ov.coop slash ethically sourced.

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