In a recent development surrounding Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, potential jurors are to be asked whether they belong to certain fringe groups like Antifa and QAnon, as well as if they’ve attended any rallies either in support of, or in opposition to the former president. Detailed in a letter from Justice Juan Merchan to Trump’s lawyers and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, this process hints at this possibly contentious aspect of jury selection, scheduled to begin on April 15, 2024 in New York.
The trial is significant, as Bragg alleges Trump concealed a hush-money payment to a porn star prior to the 2016 elections, as part of a scheme to influence those elections by preventing the publication of salacious stories about Trump. The questionnaire, bearing similarity to those used in Trump’s two previous civil trials – both of which he lost, also queries potential jurors about their usage of Truth Social, Trump’s social-media platform, and any affiliations to anti-Trump groups.
This new course of action follows Trump’s efforts to get Justice Merchan removed from the case – for claims that include his daughter possibly profiting professionally from the proceedings as an employee of a consulting firm that has Democrats as clients.
Trump further claims that his own survey of lawyers demonstrates that the jury pool in Manhattan is too Democratic-leaning for him to get a fair trial. To counter this claim, Bragg has argued that Trump’s survey results show that most inhabitants of the Island are confident of their ability to deliver a verdict based solely on the evidence.
The trial onset and jury selection are expected to unfold over a period of up to two weeks and could represent a significant proportion of the trial’s entirety.
For more about the case and the comprehensive list of questions detailed in Justice Merchan’s letter, Erik Larson and Patricia Hurtado provide an in-depth analysis in their article for Bloomberg Law. Read more here.