Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday warned former President Trump that he would not put up with any intimidation of jurors in his courtroom, accusing the presumptive GOP presidential nominee of making comments during the questioning of one juror.
“I wont tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear,” the New York judge said, raising his voice.
Merchan told one of Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, to speak with his client, who the judge said was making gestures and “audible” comments while a prospective juror was being questioned about her social media posts.
Merchan noted Trump was about 12 feet away from the juror, instructing Blanche to speak with his client.
Social media posts have come up during the questioning of jurors as lawyers have sought to restrict certain people from the jury based on things they have written about politics.
Lawyers for the former president had taken issue with one potential juror because she had allegedly posted items to social media showing people honking their horns celebrating President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Merchan said the woman gave “reasonable explanations” for the videos and insisted she could be impartial in deciding not to grant a request by Trump’s team to keep her out of the jury.
Trump is on trial over charges related to an alleged hush-money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It’s the first criminal trial in history for a former U.S. president.
You can read more about the first day of the trial here.