Donald Trump's lawyers returned from the lunch recess Tuesday to declare that they'd discovered a number of social media posts from potential jurors that contradicted answers given during questioning, and claimed that some showed "hostility" toward the ex-president.
But Judge Juan Merchan hit back at lawyer Todd Blanche.
"We can't go on like this," he said, talking about the nitpicking of potential jurors who disagree with Trump on policy issues.
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MSNBC host Katie Phang reported one potential juror was asked about a tweet in which Trump lost the court case over his ban on people traveling into the United States from predominantly Muslim countries. The man celebrated: "Good news, Trump lost his court battle on his unlawful travel ban. Get him out and lock him up."
The man had been asked about his opinion and he said he doesn't have one "either way." That man had removed been removed from the pool.
Blanche gave more examples.
One woman was brought back into the courtroom to talk about a social media post she made about the 2020 election celebration in New York City. Blanche said that it is proof that she is hostile to Trump, but the woman said she was talking about how she thought it was another example of the cheering celebrations the city did for nurses and doctors during the pandemic.
Prosecutors took issue with the attack on the woman, saying there was nothing showing bias against Trump.
"She assured all that she could be impartial," Phang said on X.
Judge Merchan agreed that she shouldn't be excused over that. That's when Trump muttered something loudly about the juror, and Merchan admonished him. Raising his voice, Merchan told Trump's lawyer he would not allow any juror intimidation in his court.
Another woman's husband had posted photos of Trump from 2015, some of which mocked Trump, saying, "I don't think this is what they meant when they said orange is the new black."
That is when Merchan said that these deep dives into the family of possible jurors is going too far and it can't go on.
"These are posts from over — more than eight years ago," Merchan said. "If this is the worst thing you were able to find ... it gives me confidence that this juror can be fair and impartial."
That woman so far remains on the jury so far.
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"There are going to be social media posts these potential jurors may have posted," Merchan explained. "Instead, we need to ask them the question, will you be impartial? Will you not be? Can you do this?"
Merchan explained that when the teams get the answer that the jurors can be impartial, then "they can stay, for now."
The debate got worse as Blanche returned to his argument that opinion and politics are central to their jury selection, Lawfare's Tyler McBrien reported.
So, Merchan asked if there was anything else on another juror's page that was satirical but maybe not related to Trump. Blanche began to look.
It appeared to move things along, with three jurors were officially selected by Tuesday afternoon. They need 12 jurors and six alternates.
