Former President Donald Trump made history on Monday as the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges, marking a watershed moment in American politics. The official start of jury selection quickly highlighted the polarizing impact Trump continues to have on the public.
As the first 96 prospective jurors were brought into a New York courtroom, more than half raised their hands when asked if they could not be “fair and impartial” and were excused from serving on the jury. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
During the jury selection process, Trump stood and turned around when introduced as the defendant, giving the prospective jurors a tight-lipped smirk. The trial is an opportunity for Trump to face off with Judge Juan Merchan, whom he has frequently attacked publicly in the run-up to the trial.
Prosecutors allege that Trump took part in a scheme to suppress scandalous stories about him during the 2016 presidential election, including allegations from porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The trial is the first of four cases brought against Trump in different jurisdictions, with this being the only case definitively set to go to trial before the election.
The jury selection process is expected to take one to two weeks, with 6,000 jurors called to the Manhattan criminal courts this week. The trial will have an anonymous jury to protect jurors from potential bribery, jury tampering, or harassment. This trial marks the fourth involving Trump as a defendant since he left office, with previous verdicts totaling about $550 million.