NEW YORK: Donald Trump arrived at a Manhattan court on Thursday as lawyers continue searching for jurors to decide the former US president's fate in a historic criminal trial just months before his upcoming election rematch with President Joe Biden.
As he say down at the defense table, Trump held his cellphone to his right ear and appeared to speak into it. He wore a blue tie.
Seven jurors have already been selected after two days of grilling by prosecutors and Trump's lawyers, who are tasked with finding New Yorkers who can be fair to the Republican presidential candidate in heavily Democratic Manhattan, where the businessman-turned-politician made his name as a real estate tycoon decades ago.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The hush money trial began on Monday. Jurors selected so far include a nurse, a software engineer and two corporate lawyers. The judge has said the identities of the 12 jurors and six alternates will remain anonymous except to Trump, his lawyers and prosecutors.
Opening statements could take place on Monday if the full jury is seated this week.
A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from office, but half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for him if he were convicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on April 8.
The same poll found that 64 per cent of registered voters thought the hush money charges were at least "somewhat serious."
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, and Trump could potentially be convicted and sentenced before the election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases, but the New York trial could be the only one he faces before the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
In the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump is accused of illegally covering up a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels to keep her quiet about a tryst she said she had with him in 2006.
Trump denies having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Over two days of questioning on Monday and Tuesday, lawyers probed a group of nearly 100 randomly selected Manhattan residents for signs of bias as Trump looked on from the defendant's table. — Reuters
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