Donald Trump trial LIVE: Woman with ‘anxiety’ dismissed as a prospective alternate juror

An executive chef told the court he believes Donald Trump is being ‘treated fairly’ in the hush money trial and promised he could be ‘impartial’.

The man who works for a large hospitality group and lives in the Upper East Side said he kept up to date with White House social media when Trump was president.

He added that he doesn’t follow any news organizations, but watches YouTube.

One potential juror, a lawyer who works as an assistant corporate counsel, said she had been sexually assaulted multiple times on the train.

She also said how she has had her cellphone stolen.

The woman said she browes headlines from the New York Times and New York Post, but she does not really listen to podcasts or the radio.

Reporters inside the court noticed Donald Trump start chewing on something as prospective jurors were questioned.

Was it gum? Was it a mint?

Judge Juan Merchan could hold a so-called Sandoval hearing on Friday to rule on what prosecutors can use if Donald Trump takes the stand in his own defense.

Trump said last week while speaking at Mar-a-Lago that he does plan to testifying in the hush money case.

A Sandoval hearing is a preliminary proceeding that reviews a defendant’s criminal history and looks at how much prosecutors can ask if a defendant testifies.

Prosecutors could use his past legal cases in an effort to discredit him.

In a court filing released Wednesday, prosecutors for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said they would ask the ex-president about recent verdicts against him including the New York civil fraud trial where Trump was found to have inflated the values of his properties to get better loan rates.

They could also ask about the E Jean Carroll case in which Trump was ordered to pay more than $90 million for defamation.

Other cases that would be considered are Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton which was dismissed in 2022, the settlement over the illegal use of Trump Foundation funds and the 2022 Trump Organization tax fraud conviction.

Merchan said late Tuesday that the matter could be debated in court on Friday if jury selection was completed.

A prospective female juror was the first to be excused as an alternate on Friday after she admitted having ‘really bad anxiety’.

The Manhattan resident sat in Seat 1 said she was concerned she could not be impartial.

‘The more days that go on the more people in my life know they just put the pieces together. I don’t think I will be able to be here and be fair.’

The judge then excused her.

Judge Juan Merchan told the court on Friday morning that his still ‘working on the temperature’ after Donald Trump complained the room was ‘freezing’.

Donald Trump entered the courtroom at 9:26am for the fourth day of his hush money trial.

He was trailed by his lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Susan Necheles.

The ex-president glanced at one of the security officers before taking a seat at the defense table.

Sitting in the back row of the courtroom is Trump aide Steven Cheung as well as lawyer Cliff Robert who was one of Trump’s lawyers in the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud trial.

Both the prosecution and defense wanted an ‘educated’ and ‘sophisticated’ jury to decide the fate of Donald Trump in his hush money trial, a jury expert has told DailyMail.com.

Renato Stabile, an attorney who specializes in jury selection, said his takeaway from the arduous selection process is that each side wanted Manhattan residents who would ‘understand the legal and financial issues’ involved.

‘I think the big takeaway is that both sides were going for a more educated, more sophisticated jury.

‘You have two lawyers, people in finance, and people with advanced degrees. I

‘It looks like both sides want the jurors to really understand the legal and financial issues that are involved in this case, like HELOC loans, grossing up payments for tax purposes, reimbursement of advances made by Cohen, and the federal crimes that form the basis for the New York felony charge.

‘It’s interesting to me that both sides seem to have wanted the exact same thing, and I expect that the defense will be a highly technical one.

‘I think putting two lawyers on the jury was an extremely bold move by the defense.

‘I still believe there is an unlikely chance of a full acquittal here, but we may be looking at a hung jury.’

Former President Donald Trump spoke to the assembled press at the courthouse Friday morning.

He went after Biden for orchestrating a ‘rigged’ trial and demanded the judge release him from the gag order.

‘This is a rigged trial coming from the White House,’ Trump declared upon entering court.

He said that DA Bragg, who attended Harvard, is ‘not smart enough to represent himself… like Letitia James.’

And the 2024 frontrunner stated he should be campaigning in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina instead of stuck in court all day.

He went on to declare: ‘The gag order has to come off.’

‘People are allowed to speak about me, and I have a gag order, just to show you how much more unfair it is.’

‘They’ve taken away my constitutional rights to speak, and that includes speaking to you. I have a lot to say to you, and I’m not allowed to say it, and I’m the only one. Everyone else can say whatever they want about me.’

He went further, calling unspecified people talking about him ‘real scum.’

Trump also accused the overseeing judge of having a conflict of interest.

‘The conflict has to end with the judge. The judge has a conflicct the worst I’ve ever seen,’ he added.

Donald Trump was joined by loyal aide Margo Martin on Friday as he made his way to court for the fourth day of his historic hush money trial and demanded that the gag order be lifted.

The former president, 77, stepped out of Trump Tower with his communications staffer and got into a motorcade in preparation for the last part of the gruelling jury selection process.

He gave a wave and a fist bump to the waiting crowd of fans and photographers as he walked across the sidewalk while Martin was looking at her phone.

Proceedings lef by Judge Merchan are set to kick off at 9:30 a.m.

Trump aide Margo Martin posted a video of the former President departing Trump Tower to head to the New York court.

Donald Trump landing in jail for violating the gag order in the Manhattan hush money trial could spark protests across the country, a CNN analyst has warned.

Mark Preston told host Jim Acosta there would be ‘civil unrest’ if Judge Juan Merchan decide to put the president behind bars.

The judge scheduled a hearing next week to consider if Trump violated the gag order with seven social media posts about Michael Cohen and ‘undercover liberal activists’ on the jury.

Trump could be held in contempt and even faces a short prison stint.

Acosta asked the panel, including Preston, what impact a Trump custodial punishment would have.

‘It really does put us between this rock and a hard place,’ Preston said.

‘And and the rock is like, listen, he has done something that’s wrong.

‘And if it was any of us sitting at this table, would we be, you know, held to a higher or was held to a higher standard? Would we have to go, you know, into that holding cell?

‘I think that if he does go into this hole, if that were to happen, first of all, I think you would probably see civil unrest across the country, certainly in some cities. That’s one.

He added that the Biden campaign doesn’t want to see Trump in jail because it will ‘inflame’ more people.

Two jurors have already been removed from the case.

On Thursday, Justice Juan Merchan dismissed one juror who said she felt intimidated after friends and relatives figured out she had been chosen for the trial.

Another was dismissed after prosecutors questioned whether he had been truthful about prior run-ins with the law.

The grandfather was arrested in the 1990s for ripping down posters with right-leaning messages.

He told the court he thought Trump was ‘fascinating’ when he was questioned in voir dire.

Former President Donald Trump’s staffers were spotted out in New York doing a McDonald’s run at lunchtime Thursday during his third day in court for the Stormy Daniels hush money trial.

An aide was caught leaving the famous fast food chain with four large bags, riding around in a vehicle marked ‘Staff 2,’ a sign the black van was part of Trump’s motorcade.

Trump’s love for McDonald’s is a well-documented affair.

His go-to meal is two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted milkshake – according to ex-aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie in their book, Let Trump Be Trump.

During a 2019 government shutdown, the then-president ordered McDonald’s and other fast food – totaling around $5,500 – to feed the Clemson University football team, due to the White House kitchen not being open.

Finding an impartial jury in the trial of the century proved to be a challenge in the hush money case against Donald Trump as it dragged into day three.

It turns out that many potential jurors already have an opinion of the ex-president while others are concerned about their own safety and whether their identities would be publicly uncovered even if they do believe they can remain impartial in the case.

Day three of the Trump hush money trial started with seven jurors having been seated but two were dismissed throughout the day dropping the number down to five before more were added.

Dozens of more potential jurors filed through the courtroom in lower Manhattan as the ex-president of the United States looked on. But many were excused after saying the could not remain impartial.

By the end of the day twelve jurors had been seated. Jury selection for the alternates will continue Friday.

Judge Juan Merchan said he remains hopeful opening statements could begin Monday.

Donald Trump could be held in contempt in the historic hush money trial after prosecutors produced seven more social media posts they claim violate a gag order.

Attorneys for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said the former president should be punished for sharing a New York Post article calling Michael Cohen a ‘serial perjurer’ and ’embarrassment’ to the court system.

Another was Trump resharing a quote from Fox News host Jesse Watters saying the defense team is ‘catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge’ to get on the jury.

Donald Trump is returning to court in Manhattan for the fourth day of his historic hush money trial.

The full jury of seven men and five women has been selected, with members including an investment banker and a speech therapist who admits he ‘doesn’t like’ his policies.

The court has to select five more alternates, after one was chosen last night.

Trump’s legal team has already used all their strikes to get rid of potential jurors.

Here is who is on the jury.