Trump trial live updates: Jury selection resumes in former president’s hush money criminal case

No word on what happened to the Sandoval hearing, as Judge Juan Merchan moves ahead with jury selection.

Here’s the inimitable Daily Show host on the defendant’s big nap yesterday.

Joseph Fischer, a former police officer from Pennsylvania, allegedly entered the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, yelling “Charge!”, and rushing the police line.

Fischer, like thousands of other rioters that day, attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in support of former president Donald Trump who had spread false claims of election fraud.

Fischer was arrested and charged with several crimes for his actions on January 6. He is among 330 rioters, along with Mr Trump, charged with obstructing an official proceeding.

But Fischer disputes that charge, claiming it is being unfairly used to prosecute him. The white-collar law was enacted 20 years ago in the wake of the Enron financial scandal.

His case, at the hands of the Supreme Court, could call into question the sentencings and convictions against hundreds of rioters and potentially undermine the two federal charges against Mr Trump.

Alex Woodward reports from the New York Criminal Court:

Having made remarks outside the courtroom [in which he claimed that he was ‘paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense], Donald Trump is now seated at the defence table. His attorneys are milling about talking and both Todd Blanche and Emil Bove have paused to whisper in the former president’s ear.

Attorney Susan Necheles is also at the Team Trump table. Necheles is resting her head on her hand while her elbow is on top of what looks like a mound of paperwork.

The court didn’t seem ready for yesterday’s summer-like weather, so it was uncomfortably warm in here all day. Now the AC is cranked. It’s freezing.

Proceedings will begin today with a Sandoval hearing to discuss the scope of what prosecutors can ask Trump about on cross-examination if he does testify.

Jury selection will then resume. About 100 prospective jurors were called into the court yesterday. Roughly half of them were excused outright. Only nine potential jurors went through the full survey. Another two were dismissed. So there are about 30-40 people still left to go from that batch.

Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench. People of New York v Donald Trump is back for day two.

Gustaf Kilander put that precise question to Dr Leonard Glass, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Here’s what he had to say.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward will be in court once again providing us with live coverage of jury selection. Here he explains the complicated process of getting members of the press into the courthouse to cover this historic trial.

There are three lines across the street from the courthouse, one for the 58 reserved/pool reporters, another for credentialed press, and another for press without government press IDs. After the pool reporters are walked across the street, followed by whoever is left in the line of 58. The uncredentialed press are vetted by an officer and admitted to the credentialed line. It’s very cold outside today.

Then batches of eight or so reporters are allowed to cross the street to get into the courtroom to go through the first security line. There are three metal detectors. Then we wait by the elevators to get the all-clear from another officer to go upstairs. There, we get into two lines for another security pass through metal detectors and a full bag check.

At the entrance to the overflow courtroom, officers check press IDs again and hand us slips of cardstock paper that will let us return to the room after the lunch break. Inside the room, a handful of officers stand guard.

Jury selection recommences in about 15 minutes.

Before heading downtown from Trump Tower, Donald Trump fired off a quick post on Truth Social again complaining about Judge Juan Merchan and demanding that his gag order be removed.

Here’s what the former president wrote:

This conflicted, Trump Hating Judge won’t let me respond to people that are on TV lying and spewing hate all day long. He is running rough shod over my lawyers and legal team. The New York System of “Justice” is being decimated by critics from all over the World. I want to speak, or at least be able to respond. Election Interference! RIGGED, UNCONSTITUTIONAL TRIAL! Take off the Gag Order!!!

Judge Juan Merchan barred Trump from making public statements about probable trial witnesses “concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.”

Merchan’s order didn’t give specific examples of what types of statements about witnesses were banned. He noted the order was not intended to prevent the former president from responding to political attacks.

The gag order also barred Trump from making public statements of any type about jurors, court staff, lawyers in the case or relatives of prosecutors or of the judge. Trump is allowed to make critical comments about the judge himself and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.