Trump trial over alleged hush money begins

Lawyers on Monday began jury selection in the Manhattan courtroom where former President Donald Trump’s first criminal case is taking place. He faces 34 charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump and his associates sought to hide an alleged extramarital affair during his first campaign for president. Trump, who attended Monday’s proceedings, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Last week he shared a photo purporting to be a 2018 signed statement from the woman allegedly involved denying that an affair ever took place.

How is jury selection going to work for this trial? New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan last week wrote a letter to prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys. Merchan said the court will attempt to conceal the identities of both potential and final jury members for the trial from the public. He also provided a questionnaire that will be used for vetting jury members. It included questions about whether they’d ever volunteered for or donated to a Trump campaign, and whether they would consider themselves a member of the QAnon movement, Antifa, the Proud Boys, or similar groups.