| Trump Trial Circus Opens
With TikTok Sign and TikTok Jury
Excused as Recusal Motion Denied
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
LITERARY
COURTHOUSE,
April 15
– The first day of the first
Trump criminal trial had TV
trucks lined up along Centre
Street in lower Manhattan, and
journalists in two lines in
Collect Pond Park waiting to
get in.
Beyond them a
woman screamed, You all are
the criminals! A man in the
park held a sign, Free TikTok,
with an antisemitic variant on
the backside of the
sign.
There were
journalists and others said to
be pre-approved, then
journalists with Office of
Court Administration hard
passes, then just-plain NYC
journalists, and finally, the
public.
One man said he
was on vacation in New York
and came to see. His next
stop, he said, would be the
Statue of Liberty.
Upstairs it
was standing room only.
Justice Juan Merchan began
with rulings, most of them
against Trump, including on
Todd Blanche's motion that
Merchan recuse himself before
his daughter is a paid
campaign consultant to, among
others, Adam Schiff. Merchan
said it was irrelevant; motion
denied.
When
finally prospective jurors
were brought in, their names
were not given. But the 11
prospects who answered the
questionnaire gave identifying
details.
A man who used to
work at Shakespeare &
Company. Then there was the
woman who got excluded for
cause, who watches Al Jazeera,
unwinds in the club and
answered Yes to question 34:
"34. Do you have
any strong opinions or firmly
held beliefs about former
President Donald Trump, or the
fact that he is a current
candidate for president that
would interfere with your
ability to be a fair and
impartial juror?"
Surviving
the cut, at least for now, was
a woman who works in social
media at FanDuel. Some said
these details shouldn't be
reported. But this was open
court.
More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
***
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