Juan Merchan admonishes ex-president for ‘gesturing and speaking in the direction of the juror’ as jury selection continues
Donald Trump met a stern rebuke on Tuesday from the jurist presiding over his criminal hush-money trial, with the judge warning: “I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”
Trump’s apparent misbehavior did not derail the trial’s progress; seven jurors were picked by day’s end.
Judge Juan Merchan’s comment came shortly after jury selection resumed after lunch. Trump’s team had found video on one possible juror’s social media that appeared to show a street celebration over his loss in the 2020 election.
She was called in to answer questions about it, and when she left, Merchan directly addressed Trump’s lawyers. “Your client was audible,” Merchan said, noting that she was just 12ft from him.
“It was audible. He was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror,” Merchan said, insisting he would not accept such behavior.
“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” Merchan admonished. “Take a minute to speak to your client.”
Merchan’s warning to Trump marked a sharp diversion from what was otherwise a relatively routine jury selection process.
Oh no another warning, I bet he is crying spray tan all over his my pillow tonight boy I tell ya.
Yeah, but this is day two of a criminal procedure. To date, Trump has only FAFO’d on civil trials. Shit’s about to get real different if he plays around in the same way.
This shit has actual consequences.
Press (x) to doubt
Wake me up when he faces actual consequences
You should probably set an alarm if you have shit to do.
“Alexa, set an alarm for ‘fucking never.’”
People have been saying shit like this since before he was elected.
A warning and belittlement. “Talk to your client”. The godfather wasn’t addressed.
Man, the number of judges who won’t actually put Trump in jail for violating court orders is longer than my dick.
Is it a short list, or is the prining reeeaaaally small?
Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I’m sure you have a perfectly adequate dick. Have a great day.
I like the fact that you’re too nice to let yourself get away with a dick joke without apologizing for it
I…am Canadian…it’s a psychological affliction. Sorry.
You monster! You didn’t say that in both English and French! Someone call the RCMP!
It’s fine, I live in Scotland, it’ll take time for extradition to go through.
It is a good thing. A very good thing.
Sorry
Nah, I’m sure there’s at least one
Cheers. I hope you’re right.
I’m sure your dick is at least one judge long.
You may be right. Only time will tell.
Ohh, how about rebuking him with a big ass fine for violating that gag order though?
So fines, thats a civil trial. This is a criminal trial. He can get hauled to the slammer.
Not at all outside the scope of the trial. Actually, the prosecutors asked for a 3k fine. Within the judge’s ability to do. You can be penalized for violating any judge’s order in any trial.
Edit: I actually only read like one article about the trial today. Yesterday they requested $3k fine during hearings yesterday and I didn’t see any headlines about Trump being fined today, so I am assuming it didn’t happen.
Sure. But he can go to the slammer.
I’m not holding my breath until it actually happens.
This whole trump business has shined a studio spotlight on how blatantly corrupt the US justice system is.
If you had some random dude on trial for fraud or theft of government property, he’d be in jail that night with a bond so high no bond company would touch it with a ten mile pole. If that same dude then threatened jury members during selection, he’d already have a trial date for tampering with the jury.
But trump is a rich boy and a former president, so he gets to walk free and threaten all the jurors he wants, with only his lawyers getting a stern talking to. It’s a joke. The wealthy have long been protected from the legal system by the legal system, and this whole trump fiasco has only highlighted how blatant it is. He said the quiet part out loud back in 2016 when he said he could shoot a man on 5th avenue and walk away. He knew the game, and knew nothing he did would earn him real consequences due to his wealth and status.
Until I see him in cuffs on his way to a jail, I’m just going to assume the system is working exactly how it was designed to.
You throwing cold water on my fever dream of Trump having to beg for Ambien because he only has five packs of ramen.
I think every sane person in this country wants to see someone held accountable for their actions.
Unfortunately, we’ve also seen the wealthy and powerful get away with, or at the worst, get slaps on the wrist, for everything from fraud to rape.
The are zero real consequences for this conduct, so he will not change his behavior. The rest of us would have been fined and jailed for contempt over far less.
Maybe the press could help with this by not releasing personally identifiable information of jurors during their coverage of the trial
