Trump appeared for the first day of his criminal trial not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed. Some said his eyes looked bloodshot which may have come from his incessant posting on Truth Social of his hatred and contempt for anyone who tries to hold him to conduct and behavior consistent with the rule of law: No Trump exceptions. Some counted 12 postings on Truth Social before court commenced, and one being a solicitation for campaign and legal fee funds was posted as soon as Justice Merchan took the bench.
Evidentiary rulings were the first order of the day. Some were significant. The DA, Alvin Bragg, sought to have the Access Hollywood Tape played for the jury, but Justice Merchan would not allow it to be played, but he did allow the DA to read the transcript of the tape into evidence. Major Loss for Trump. Then the DA was granted approval to have Karen McDougall, the Playboy Model paid by the National Enquirer and Trump, to testify during the trial, but the Judge prohibited evidence that Melania was pregnant when Trump was having his escapades with his Playboy Model.
When that evidence is presented to the jury it should be a raucous day in court. And some are beginning to see why Trump’s lawyers were trying to do just about anything to have the trial delayed. The Republican Party candidate will not be pleased with testimony on his lascivious conduct. But testimony from other female accusers of Trump will not be admitted, primarily based on hearsay and other reasons.
Then after lunch jury selection began. The first panel of 96 prospective jurors were brought into the Courtroom. The Judge (“Justice”) introduced the parties, their lawyers and personnel for the jury, and then the voir dire began: the process of questioning the potential jurors to see if they are biased or prejudiced or would be able to serve and render a fair verdict regardless of their prior feelings about Trump. But when the Judge asked the entire panel of 96 if any of them felt they could not render a fair and impartial verdict, 50% of the hands went up, and the Judge excused all 50 of them without further questioning. Trump was reported to have glared at the prospective jurors who had been excused, but we do not know if they felt too hostile to Trump or were part of the Trump cult, though in Manhattan, the former is more likely.
Voir dire continued with questions to the remaining potential jurors from the list of questions approved by the parties and the Court. Questions such as what newspapers do you read, and since it is New York, some answered the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, suggesting some interesting diversity in the jury pool.
As voir dire continued with not exactly spell binding questions, Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that Trump had fallen asleep. Some physical jostling from chief defense counsel Todd Blanche brought the former commander-in-chief back to attentiveness. But some have noted that Trump has persistently called the President (the Real One), Sleepy Joe Biden. Well in light of Trump’s sleep while being tried for 34 felonies in New York Criminal Court, President Biden is the wide-awake and active of the two presidential candidates. After all Trump is 77 (so am I), and us elderly guys need a cat nap once in awhile, but it has been suggested that Trump would be more attentive and awake if he didn’t post on Truth Social throughout the night and also the day, even from the courtroom.
One further development outside the courtroom. Near the start of court proceedings, Trump Media (trading under DJT) announced that they had filed an application with the SEC to allow them to issue about 150 million more shares in DJT. Now investors in DJT have already suffered as the opening day stock price of $75 per share has now declined to $25 after only two weeks, a 66.7% decrease due in part to the release of financial information that DJT only had $4 million of revenue in 2023— the amount of the annual revenue of a Chick Filet franchise. So what did this SEC filing propose, the selling of an additional 150 million shares which would dilute the existing shareholders significantly all so Trump could get more money out after the end of his six-month lock-up period. The Con Man strikes a blow to his shareholders as his criminal trial commences; what timing.