Trump hush money case: No jury selected on day 1 as potential jurors confess to bias against the Republican

The historic Donald Trump hush money criminal trial has already made headlines as more than 50 potential jurors were dismissed on Monday (Apr 15) after saying they could not be impartial in judging the controversial Republican.

"I just couldn't do it," one prospective juror was heard saying outside the courtroom, reports Reuters.

Unbiased jury

On the first day of the trial, New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump's trial, told nearly 100 potential jurors that they must set aside any biases or personal attitudes including "political orientation" against the defendant Trump or the case.

Judge Merchan had to dismiss the potential jurors after they confessed that they could not impartially decide whether the 2024 Republican presidential candidate illegally covered up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

At the end of the day, no jurors were selected. The process will resume on Tuesday (Apr 16).

Exiting the courtroom, Trump, as per AP, reiterated his "witch hunt" allegations once again.

"It's a scam. It’s a political witch hunt. It continues, and it continues forever," he said.

Previously, on his social media platform Truth Social, the presumptive Republican candidate had alleged that the criminal case would happen "before a totally conflicted Judge, a Corrupt Prosecutor, a Legal System in CHAOS, a State being overrun by violent crime and corruption, and Crooked Joe Biden's henchmen "Rigging the System" against his Political Opponent, ME!"

He had also declared that he would be "fighting for myself but, much more importantly, I will be fighting for our Country".

The Trump hush money trial

Donald Trump is facing the court on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

He is accused of covering up a $130,000 paymenthis former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford. The payment wasallegedlymadein exchange for her silence before the 2016 presidential election about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump a decade earlier.

The Republican leader, as per Reuters, denies any such encounter with Daniels. He has also pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Creating history: First former US president to face criminal charges

Trump has made history as he, a former US president, goes on trial for criminal charges in the Lower Manhattan court.

Fighting the case against Trump will be Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat. The case will also be a major test for DA Bragg, as it may be the only one of Trump's four criminal cases to face a jury before Election Day — November 5th.

Trump has persistently tried to delay proceedings till after the elections in all four criminal indictments. His efforts to reverse his 2020 defeat to Democrat rival JoeBiden and his mishandling of sensitive government documents after the end of his presidency in 2021 are some of the other cases he faces. The 2024 presidential hopeful has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

(With inputs from agencies)