The jury selection process for former President Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial hit more speed bumps on Thursday.
Two of the seven jurors previously seated were dismissed by Judge Juan Merchan – one after expressing doubts about remaining impartial, and another over concerns that some of his responses may have been inaccurate.
The dismissals trimmed the number of seated jurors back down to five as the long vetting process to find an impartial panel in deep blue Manhattan for the former president’s unprecedented criminal trial continues.
Prosecutors also requested that Trump be held in contempt over recent social media posts they claim violated the judge’s orders.
Whenever a final panel is seated, it will place the former president’s legal jeopardy squarely at the center of his campaign against President Joe Biden.
Thursday’s courtroom drama highlighted the challenges of this extraordinarily high-profile case, being held in a Democratic stronghold during a presidential election.
Prosecutors themselves have acknowledged the difficulty of finding jurors who live “under a rock” regarding Trump’s public profile.
As the process lumbers on, the case’s historic singularity looms large – it represents the first time a former president has faced criminal charges.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, but the trial’s commencement promises to inject unprecedented legal chaos into his 2024 presidential bid.
While a few discarded jurors won’t derail the proceedings, the chaos of the opening salvo of dismissals foreshadows the trial becoming a circus show.
Stephen Dietrich and the Associated Press contributed to this article