NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump is back in court for the second day of his Manhattan criminal trial over whether he falsified business records to cover up giving hush money to a p*rn star to help his 2016 presidential campaign. So far:
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to p*rn star Stormy Daniels via Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. Daniels has said she and Trump had sex in 2006, not long after Melania Trump gave birth to their son Barron. Trump denies the claim.
Prosecutors allege the falsification was done to conceal violating federal campaign finance contribution limits and a plan to violate New York tax and election laws, making the crimes felonies.
Keep up with USA TODAY's live updates from inside and outside the Manhattan courthouse:
Would-be juror Kara McGee reports on happenings inside the courtroom, says jury box is balanced
"You walked in and you felt like history was happening which was a really, really cool sensation," excused potential juror Kara McGee told a crowded field of reporters.. "I wish I could have stayed for the entire trial. It's fascinating, it's unprecedented."
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
"You got a sense that people were really trying to put anything they had brought to this aside and step in and do their civic duty," McGee said. She reported being pleasantly surprised at the honesty of fellow jurors − some disclosed they were on Trump mailing lists or watched Fox News, while others said they had volunteered for anti-Trump causes, giving a clearer picture of the political makeup of the jury, which she said seemed fairly balanced.
McGee herself is "not a fan" of the former president. During COVID-19 she lived with someone who was immunocompromised and wasn't pleased with how he had handled the pandemic. She also has a sister adopted from China and cited his divisive rhetoric about the country.
Her views on his policies don't mean he shouldn't get his day in court though, she said.
"Something extremely important in this country, especially in this age where en masse we do not trust each other, is the right to a fair trial," McGee said. "No matter what you think of someone as a person and what other things they may have done, what he is on trial for is a very specific thing that even he deserves the right to a fair trial"
−Anna Kaufman
Lawyers begin addressing jury candidates directly
Around 11:37 a.m. ET, lawyers began to ask potential jurors questions directly. Before, the jury candidates had only been answering questions from a 42-question list Judge Juan Merchan decided on before the trial.
Joshua Steinglass from the Manhattan District Attorney's office was the first lawyer to speak. He introduced himself and his team, and said they are trying to pick jurors who will be fair to the defense and to the prosecution.
"Let's start with the obvious," Steinglass said, noting Trump is a former president and current presidential candidate. Steinglass said jurors aren't expected to have been living under a rock; the important thing is that jurors are able to be fair.
– Aysha Bagchi
Dismissed juror touts importance of fair trial
Kara McGee, a dismissed juror, exited the courtroom Tuesday afternoon to a swarm of microphones and cameras eager to hear what she thought of the former president and why she had been ousted from the pool.
McGee is one of the roughly 500 potential jurors called Monday when the trial kicked off. She was released Tuesday for scheduling conflicts with her cyber-security job.
"It was a little bit surreal to be that close to a former president, someone who's been on the news in the public eye so much," McGee told reporters. She reported looking down on the questionnaire while in the jury box and making only minimal eye contact with Trump who she assumed was looking at her.
Some of the questions she was asked dealt with whether she had an opinion on the defendant being a former president, and how that should affect the trial. Mcgee told the judge she could be unbiased. "It's very difficult for anyone really in this country to not come to this with prior opinions, I think we all have prior opinions about the defendant unless you've been living in a cardboard box since 2014," she said. "But, personally, the right to a fair trial in this country is more important to me than anything this particular defendant has done or any feelings about him I personally have."
−Anna Kaufman
Trump mutters at defense table as potential juror says he is being treated fairly
Former President Donald Trump could be seen muttering at the defense table after a potential juror said she believed he was being treated fairly in the case.
The woman, who has lived in New York for more than 20 years, was responding to one of the questions each potential juror is being asked: "Do you have any feelings or opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?"
The woman was later excused after she said she was "not 100%" sure she could be impartial in the case.
– Aysha Bagchi
How long will the Trump trial last?
The trial will last about six-to-eight weeks, according to a court media advisory.
The proceedings are generally scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week. The court may make some accommodations for the Passover holiday in April. Trump has asked for May 17 off for Barron Trump's high school graduation, but the judge has not yet issued a ruling on the request.
-Kinsey Crowley and Aysha Bagchi
Juror with Republican friends and family excused over bias concerns
A potential juror who said he believed he had unconscious bias that could get in the way of being impartial was excused Tuesday morning.
Originally from Texas, the man added he wasn't sure he could be fair and impartial. Judge Juan Merchan then told him there was a need for an unequivocal assurance that he can be impartial. The potential juror said growing up he had a bunch of Republican family and friends and it would "probably" be hard to be impartial.
After conferring privately with attorneys, Merchan excused the man from service.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump would rather be on the campaign trail
The former president and presumptive Republican nominee argued as he entered the courtroom Tuesday that he should be campaigning in state such as Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia rather than attending the trial. He alleged again without evidence that the trial was being directed from the Biden White House.
“They’re using this in order to try and win an election,” Trump said.
−Bart Jansen
Monday featured mass dismissals of potential jurors
The beginning of jury selection Monday afternoon demonstrated how many New Yorkers will be quickly deemed ineligible. About 96 potential jurors came into the courtroom and more than 50 were swiftly excused because they said they couldn't be fair and impartial. At least 10 more potential jurors were excused later for other reasons, leaving a much smaller group.
In total, the New York criminal court has called upon 500 New Yorkers to potentially comprise the 12 jurors and several alternates who will be asked to hear all the evidence in the trial.
−Aysha Bagchi
New Yorkers unperturbed by Trump trial circus
New Yorkers who work in the Manhattan courts lined up behind police barricades to enter as NYPD officers reported there was a security freeze while Trump entered Tuesday morning.
Dan Horwitz, a white-collar defense attorney who had a case later that day sat in nearby Foley Park. “You get used to it,” he said of the interruptions the former presidents cases have caused “It’s just another day in New York.”
Jury selection may take some time, he says, but he does think it’s possible to find an impartial bench. “Jurors take their jobs seriously, it’s New York so you gotta weed out the nuts and people who are going to say 'I hate this guy,'” he said, “but most people take it seriously.”
−Anna Kaufman
As crowds dissipate, Trump becomes just another New Yorker getting his day in court
Day 2 of Donald Trump's first criminal trial kicked off with little fanfare. Even the modest crowds from the day before had dissipated leaving just two pro-Trump demonstrators wandering outside the courthouse.
−Anna Kaufman
Trump continues futile call for judge's recusal
In his pre-trial statement to the press Tuesday morning, Trump repeated his argument that Judge Juan Merchan should be removed from the case because his daughter works for Democratic politicians.
Merchan has refused to withdraw, noting that the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics'found Merchan's impartiality couldn't be reasonably questioned. The New York City Bar Association has described Trump's accusation of bias as "baseless."
Trump said legal scholars such as Jonathan Turley and Andrew McCarthy have called the prosecution a “disgrace.”
“It should have never happened,” Trump said. “It should have been thrown out a long time ago.”
−Bart Jansen
Jurors are running late, judge says
Judge Juan Merchan arrived in the courtroom at about 9:45 a.m. ET for the second day of trial proceedings. After the lawyers identified themselves and Trump, Merchan said, "Good morning, counsel, good morning Mr. Trump." Trump made a displeased expression as the judge acknowledged him.
The judge said two potential jurors still haven't arrived, while a third has arrived despite feeling sick. Although she indicated she had tested negative for COVID-19, she also said she didn't feel well enough to be there. After checking with the lawyers, Merchan excused her from service.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said the missing jurors are running more than 15 minutes late and asked that they be excused from service. Merchan indicated he will give them at least a couple more minutes.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump contends payments accurately described as ‘legal expenses’
Former President Donald Trump gave a preview of his defense Tuesday at his New York criminal trial by arguing his payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen − which the prosecution and Cohen say were reimbursem*nts for hush money to p*rn star Stormy Daniels − were accurately described as “legal expenses” on his company records.
“I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense – some accountant, I didn’t know – marked it down as a legal expense,” Trump said during a two-minute statement to reporters before entering court. “That’s exactly what it was. And you get an indictment over that?”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to silence her claim before the 2016 election about having had sex with Trump in 2006, while Trump was married. Trump has denied her allegation.
−Bart Jansen
Trump arrives in courtroom for day 2 of hush money trial
Donald Trump entered the courtroom and sat down at the defense table at 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday for the second day of his New York hush money trial. He is wearing a blue suit jacket and striped blue tie.
Jury selection is expected to resume in the morning. Judge Juan Merchan sizably whittled down the first batch of about 96 potential jurors on Monday. Dozens were excused because they said they couldn't be fair and impartial in the case, while several more were let go for other reasons.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump trial day 2: schedule and location
The trial is scheduled to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. today at the criminal court in lower Manhattan.
The legal teams are expected to pick up where they left off yesterday, questioning dozens of potential jurors.
Proceedings are likely to run through the afternoon with a break for lunch. The trial takes off on Wednesdays, so after today, the trial will reconvene on Thursday morning.
−Kinsey Crowley
Monday was a bad day for Trump
Inside the courtroom, Monday wasn't a good day for the former president.
Judge Juan Merchan opened proceedings by denying Trump's request for the judge's recusal. Trump argued Merchan should get off the case because his daughter leads a marketing agency that does work for Democratic political candidates. But Merchan noted the determination by the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics that his impartiality couldn't reasonably be questioned based on his daughter's work because the Trump case doesn't involve her business.
Merchan also denied a similar request from Trump back in August. "The court will not address this matter further," he said Monday.
The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office also asked for Trump to be held in contempt and fined based on alleged violations of Merchan's gag order on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Merchan prohibited Trump from publicly commenting on the participation of potential witnesses in the case. But prosecutor Christopher Conroy pointed to three potential violations, including when Trump appeared to refer to Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen as "sleaze bags" on his Truth Social media platform.
The judge scheduled a hearing on the gag order issue for April 23 – a signal he may entertain the prosecution's request.
– Aysha Bagchi
Protests fizzle out on second day of Trump’s trial
As reporters slowly trickled inside the Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday morning, the park across from the courthouse was mostly empty aside from a handful of people sitting on benches. Near the court, a man held up a pro-Trump flag. Another man, wearing a black balaclava, held a sign “Israel vs. TikTok.”
-Eduardo Cuevas
Was Trump sleeping at the New York trial?
Trump glared at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for several seconds when he walked out of the Manhattan courtroom during a short break Monday afternoon. Haberman reported earlier in the day that the presumptive Republican presidential frontrunner appeared to be sleeping in the courtroom: she saw his head drop down multiple times and his mouth go slack.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump and supporters complain about possibly missing his son’s graduation ceremony
Donald Trump is continuing to campaign for the White House during his criminal trial in New York, but he and his allies are complaining about how the case could hinder his other priorities, such as attending Supreme Court arguments or his son’s graduation ceremony.
Judge Juan Merchan acknowledged attending arguments April 25 over whether the former president is immune from federal prosecution is important, but not as much as the trial on charges he falsified business records to hide hush money payments.
“This shows such great disdain and disrespect for our Nation’s Highest Court, especially for a topic so important as Presidential Immunity, without which our Country would never be the same!” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.Trump also asked to not appear at the trial May 17, so he could attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. Merchan said he’d think about it.
Trump called Merchan a “highly biased Judge” and the case a “Witch Hunt.” Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former campaign lawyer and a co-defendant in his election racketeering case in Georgia, also blasted the decision as if it was already made. “Heartless and cruel,” Giuliani wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “These people have no heart or soul.”−Bart Jansen
