- Jury selection continues Tuesday in Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush-money trial.
- Trump gave reporters a preview of his potential defense before he entered the courtroom.
- The former president blamed “some accountant.”
Day two of jury selection in Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush-money trial began Tuesday, with the former president giving reporters a preview of his potential defense: the hush-money payment actually was a legal expense — as far as he knew.
And “some accountant” at Trump Organization handled the paperwork he’s now on trial for.
“I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense,” Trump said in the hallway outside the courtroom in response to a shouted question by a pool reporter.
“Some accountant, I didn’t know, marked it down as a legal expense,” Trump rattled on.
“That’s exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?” he continued.
The Manhattan district attorney’s indictment alleges that he falsified 34 Trump Organization business records — disguising them as legal fees for his then lawyer, Michael Cohen — to cover up an illegal scheme to interfere with the 2016 election.
The falsified records hid a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who was about to publicly allege that back in 2006, she and the then-Apprentice star had sex — a claim Trump has denied.
Trump’s hallway remarks suggest his lawyers will argue at trial that he was in the dark about what prosecutors say are falsified documents.
Also Tuesday morning, prosecutors made good on the previous day’s promise to demand that Trump be held in contempt of court for violating his gag order.”
“Defendant willfully violated this Court’s order by publishing several social media posts attacking two known witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels,” prosecutors wrote in a new motion.
The defense has until Friday to file a response explaining why Trump should not be held in contempt. Should state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan find Trump in contempt, potential penalties include fines and, in the extreme, jail time.
Meanwhile, jury selection continued for a second day on Tuesday.
No jurors were selected during four hours of jury selection on Monday, a day that began with a half-day of arguments over pretrial motions.
Just under three dozen anonymous prospective jurors will take turns on Tuesday answering questions on a jury questionnaire as lawyers for Trump and District Attorney Alvin Bragg listen intently.
The questionnaire asks basic biographical questions — “in what neighborhood do live?” and “what do you do for a living” among them.
It also asks prospective jurors to say if they’ve read any of Trump’s books, if they are supporters of QAnon or Antifa, and whether they have “strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump.”
Trump looked at a random court officer and winked as he entered the room, mouthing “How are you?” before taking his seat at the defense table.
He has appeared to struggle to stay awake during the sometimes tedious jury selection process. His eyes have been closed for minutes at a time as he sits at the defense table, and on occasion, he appears to jolt awake.
