Full Jury Seated in Trump’s Hush-Money Trial

Facts

• The final jurors needed for former Pres. Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial, set to kick off with opening statements on Monday, have been selected.¹
• All 12 jurors, out of 200 contenders, and one alternate were selected on Thursday, while five alternates for the case were picked on Friday.²
• The jury includes a Chelsea-based corporate lawyer, an investment banker, a Lebanon-born retired wealth manager, an asset analyst, and a speech therapist.³
• Despite Judge Juan Merchan's order to keep the jurors' names hidden, one of the two selected people who were later excused said her personal details had been revealed in the media.⁴
• The final selection comes after two potential jurors burst out into tears, one got nervous and anxious, and a man lit himself on fire outside the courthouse.⁵
• Prosecutors have said they want to question Trump about other cases he's recently faced. However, Trump's lawyers argue those cases should be off limits in the hush money trial.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³New York Post, ⁴Washington Post, ⁵NBC and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by Washington Post. This case is historic not only because it's the first federal prosecution of a former president but also because it relates to Trump's first attempt to steal an election. By illegally falsifying business documents to keep this hush money hidden, Trump blatantly violated the law in 2016 to ensure American voters were unaware of his wrongdoings. Trump is yet again attempting to skirt the law to obtain power he could otherwise never achieve.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Revolver News. Alvin Bragg's case against Trump may be the clearest example of the Biden regime's grasping-at-straws legal strategy to damage their 2024 opponent. After failing to find any real crimes, Bragg reimagined the law to turn what had always been a misdemeanor into a felony. These alleged hidden hush money payments have been publicly denied by Stormy Daniels herself in 2006, 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The government has weaponized the judicial system against the former president.

Predictions