Donald Trump was furious Monday that his Manhattan hush-money trial could mean he will miss his son Barron’s high school graduation, naming the first juror who could decide his fate in the historic case. As he stood in front of the candidate, he smiled with a tight-lipped smile.
Trump, 77, told reporters in the hallway of Manhattan Supreme Court after the first day of his trial: “I was looking forward to the graduation ceremony that my mother and father would attend, but the judge will not let me get away with this fraud.” It seems so.” .
Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan Marchan not to hold the trial on Friday, May 17, so the former president could attend Barron’s College’s graduation ceremony at the Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida. was.
However, Machan did not change his attitude.
“It really depends on whether we get it on time and what stage of the trial we are at,” he said.
Several potential jurors are being vetted in a case that accuses Trump of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. There was a back-and-forth exchange.
The trial, the first criminal prosecution against a US president, could last up to eight weeks and will be held every weekday except Wednesday.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers also asked that the former president be excused next Thursday to attend Supreme Court arguments on an immunity claim he brought in a separate criminal case, but Mr. Marchand did not respond. Ta.
“Arguments in the Supreme Court are a big deal, and I can certainly understand why my client would want to be there, but a trial in the New York Supreme Court is also a big deal,” the justices said, adding that Trump attorney Todd He rejected Blanche’s claims. request.
For updates on Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial, follow The Post’s live blog
“I’ll see him here next week,” Marchan added.
The ruling drew further ire from Trump in the hallways.
“He won’t let me leave here for half a day to go to Washington, D.C., and go to the U.S. Supreme Court, probably because he thinks he’s better than the Supreme Court.”2024 said the Republican presidential front-runner.
“I just want to say thank you,” he added sarcastically. Or campaigning in North Carolina. I should be too. Perfect for the radical left wing of the Democratic Party. That’s exactly what they want. ”
No jurors were selected Monday. Of the 96 initial nominees, at least 50 were excused for not being able to judge the former president fairly and impartially, leaving 32 by the end of the day.
“I just couldn’t do it,” one of the dismissed jurors, a woman in her 30s with short hair, was heard saying in the hallway as she left the room.
One of the scheduled panelists, an Upper West Side bookseller, told the court he felt no one is above the law, “whether it’s a former president or a janitor.”
The prospective juror, who works at the Drama Book Shop in Midtown, answered question number 31 on the jury handout: court? “
“I don’t think anyone is above the law, whether it’s a former president, a current president, a janitor,” he said with punches.
President Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for concealing a $130,000 payment to Daniels to silence his story about the alleged secret meeting. District Attorney Alvin Bragg claims this is a scheme to hide damaging stories from 2016 presidential voters. .
Because this is a criminal trial, the former commander-in-chief must appear in court every day it is in session.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
