1/ On the third day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, two of the seven jurors already seated in the case were removed. One expressed concerns after being identified publicly based on details reported by the media. After being dismissed, Judge Juan Merchan blamed journalists for being too accurate in their reporting, and ordered the press to not report on certain details about prospective jurors going forward. The second juror was dismissed over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he’d ever been accused or convicted of a crime. Prosecutors said they found an article featuring a person with the same name who was arrested in Westchester in the 1990s for tearing down political ads. The juror reportedly “expressed annoyance about how much information was out there about him in the public.” Seven new jurors were seated hours later, bringing the total number to 12 jurors. The next six jurors selected will serve as alternates. Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office re-upped its request for Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court for violating his gag order seven more times since Monday, calling the behavior “ridiculous.” Merchan said he would take up the matter next week. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / NBC News / Politico / Bloomberg / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / NBC News / Axios)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2024/04/18/day-1185/