Here's How This New York Judge is Ensuring Donald Trump Gets a Fair Jury in Hush Money Trial

Donald Trump's much-awaited Hush Money trial opened on Monday, April 15, 2024. Although the former president is alleging the case is a "scam," therefore there's no way he would be treated fairly in New York. However, such is not the case. Judge Juan Merchan is fighting tooth and nail to choose a juror for Trump who would be fair and unbiased.  

The Republican front-runner resorted to Truth Social and ranted, "There is NO WAY I can be given a Fair (Biden) Trial on Monday with Judge Juan Merchan, who is totally conflicted and corrupt, presiding," a day before the jury selection began, suggesting he'd be treated unfairly in the Manhattan court, per HuffPost. 

Meanwhile, Merchan has been scrupulous in the process of finding the right juror for Trump, as witnessed on Day 1 where a total of 96 jurors were brought in and asked if they found themselves too opinionated to pass a fair judgment in the Stormy Daniels trial. 

The first batch proclaimed themselves as biased towards Trump and subsequently, Merchan let them all pass without any further questioning. The rigorous process began again, which is so unlike the normal procedure where judges question the potential jurors after the first attempt. However, in Trump's case, they didn't take a chance. 

Merchan's courtroom normally has a '15 questions' questionnaire for the jurors, but because it was Trump, they increased the number of questions to 42, including some key points regarding their family, their job, their media habits, their social media habits, if they had ever been on Trump rally if they have an opinion on his campaign and whether they'd be able to carry out a fair trial or no. 

The meticulous digging by Merchan ended with seven jurors who had been sworn in on Day 1 and a half of the jury selection. Ultimately, the task ahead is to find a total of 12 jurors and six alternates. A person who witnessed the process said, "We had to rush to get all the research done and will have to rush again," per The Washington Post.

Among other legal battles, the Hush Money case dates back to 2006 when the adult film star Daniels alleged she had been paid $130, 000 to stay silent before Trump ran for president in 2016. Apparently, she alleged a sexual affair with the former president after her first meeting with him at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

After the scandal exploded in 2018, Daniels, originally, Stephanie Gregory Clifford, confessed, "I was completely sure that I was gonna die," per CNN. The reason she cited as to why she accepted the payment was to protect her husband and daughter and "that there would be a paper trail and money trail linking me to Donald Trump so that he could not have me killed." 

However, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said the charges levied against the ex-president were unfair, "The deck has been stacked against President Trump in a gross abuse of our legal system, wherein his persecutors have deliberately targeted some of the most Democrat-heavy jurisdictions in the country to bring forth their bogus cases." 

Day 3 of the jury selection resumed on April 18, and 5 more jurors and six alternatives are needed. So far, the people that have been selected represent the diverse culture of New York City- meaning they are married, single, young, old, Black, white, uptown, downtown, native New Yorkers, and transplants from elsewhere.