On the second day of President Trump’s historic hush-money trial, the judge and attorneys from both sides battled through the complicated and at times contentious process of finding impartial jury members. By the end of the day, seven jurors were sworn in.    

“This is a trial that should have never been brought, a trial that was being looked upon and looked at all over the world. Every legal pundit, every legal scholar, said this trial is a disgrace,” a furious Mr. Trump told reporters in the courthouse hallway in the morning. “I was paying a lawyer and I marked it down as a legal expense, some accountant … I didn’t know. That’s exactly what it was.” 

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, has charged Mr. Trump with falsifying business records in an attempt to hide an alleged hush-money payment from voters during the 2016 presidential election. The adult film star, Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had a onetime sexual encounter with the future president at Lake Tahoe in 2006, a claim Mr. Trump vehemently denies.

According to the charges, Mr. Trump directed his former lawyer and current nemesis, Michael Cohen, to pay Ms. Clifford to buy her silence regarding the affair, which she had been seeking to monetize. When Mr. Trump later reimbursed Cohen, the district attorney alleges, he concealed the payments as legal expenses. Mr. Trump has pleaded innocent and denies all charges.  

He entered the courtroom and greeted the court officers, mouthing to one, “How are you?” as he made his way to the defense table, accompanied by his attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles and Emil Bove. 

The second day of the historic trial – for the first time in the history of the United States, a former president faces criminal charges – was dedicated to selecting the twelve jurors who will be asked to render a verdict. Mr. Trump has expressed serious concerns about finding unbiased jurors in New York. Juries in two recent civil cases brought against Mr. Trump levied enormous judgments against him. Only 12 percent of voters in Manhattan, the New York City borough from which the hush money jury is being drawn, voted for Mr. Trump in 2020.

Last week, Mr. Trump’s attorneys filed a motion with an appeals court asking to move the trial to a less hostile venue. The request was temporarily denied and will be reviewed by a full five panel of appellate judges later this month. 

Also on Tuesday, prosecutors formally asked the judge, Juan Merchan, to sanction Mr. Trump $3,000 for the three social media posts they say violate a gag order, treating each one as an independent violation. The prosecution claims that the posts, which denounced Cohen and Ms. Clifford as “sleaze bags” among other calumny, were in violation. Mr. Trump also reposted, on his social media network, Truth Social, news articles that described Cohen as “an inveterate liar” and Ms. Clifford as having engaged in “extortion.” 

Prosecutors said Mr. Trump was attempting to intimidate witnesses, in violation of the orders of the judge, who has scheduled a hearing for April 23rd on the issue. The defense has to file their response by April 19. 

Of the 96 prospective jurors who were brought into the courtroom on Monday, about 50 got themselves excused because, they said, they could not judge impartially. One prospective juror, leaving the courtroom on Monday, was heard by reporters in the hallway as saying, “I just couldn’t do it.”

The remaining ones were each called to the stand and asked 42 questions by the judge. The judge excused several jurors after they expressed date conflicts, or said they were concerned they could not miss an expected eight weeks of work, or simply that this trial would put a “strain on my personal life,” as one juror said. A woman from Philadelphia, who lightened the mood by telling the court she once dated a lawyer and it “ended fine”, went through the entire questionnaire, only to ask to be excused because she felt “a sense of duty” with her job. The judge asked the jurors to be mindful of the time, and not “wait until the end” to share their conflicts. 

However, Judge Merchan did not hurry the jurors. “This is an important process,” he said, “and I don’t want to rush it.”  

Those jurors who survived the questionnaire were then asked questions by the attorneys, first by the prosecutors and then by the defense, a legal procedure called voir dire. 

An older male told a defense attorney, Mr. Blanche, when asked how he felt about Mr. Trump, that “I find him fascinating. He walks into a room and sets people off one way or the other.” When Mr. Blanche asked whether that meant he liked or disliked Mr. Trump, the man answered that the former president “makes things interesting.” 

After the lunch break, defense attorneys challenged a juror for cause; in other words, they asked the judge to excuse the juror.     

“Juror number B311 has a series of extraordinarily hostile Facebook posts,” Mr. Blanche told the judge. His team had dug through the social media accounts of the potential jurors as well as their family members. 

Mr. Blanche handed Judge Merchan two screengrabs of two Facebook posts. One appeared to depict an outdoor celebration of the 2020 election results. “It’s a full-on dance party at 96th St.,” the caption read, referring to a northern street that bisects Manhattan from east to west.

Another defense attorney, Ms. Necheles, found this to be a clear indication that the prospective juror was biased. “This is a woman who said she never attended a Trump rally,” Ms. Necheles told the judge. 

The juror, a female, was brought back into the courtroom for further questioning. “It reminded me of the seven o’clock cheer for the healthcare workers, which we did for a very long time out on the fire escape,” the woman told the court, referring to a ritual New Yorkers practiced during the pandemic, when they expressed their support for the nurses and doctors fighting to save lives. “It was just a New York City celebratory moment.”

After Mr. Blanche pressed further, she admitted that her postings reflected her political bias. “I understand that bias exists, I understand that implicit bias exists,” she explained. But she said she believed “very, very strongly” that “the job of the juror is to understand the facts of the trial.”

“Yesterday, when people walked out,” she continued, because they thought they couldn’t be impartial, “I don’t believe that about myself at all.” 

But the defense dismissed her using a peremptory strike. Each party has ten peremptory strikes, allowing them to disqualify ten jurors they deem unfit to rule impartially. 

The judge did excuse another the prospective juror after he admitted to sharing a 2017 Facebook post, which expressed joy at a court decision against Mr. Trump’s  “unlawful travel ban!!!” Another part of the post, referring to Mr. Trump read, “Get him out and lock him up!”

“I don’t think I can allow this juror to remain,” Judge Merchan said. “This is a person who has expressed the desire … that Mr. Trump be locked up.” Notably, the judge added that if Trump is found guilty, he faces a potential jail sentence.

At one point the judge reprimanded Mr. Trump not to “intimidate” jurors. He told the defense attorneys, “your client was audible.” He did not know what Mr. Trump had said, but said he was “muttering” and “gesturing.” 

“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” Judge Merchan said firmly, raising his voice slightly. Then he directed counsel to speak to their client about his behavior.

The seven panelists who were ultimately selected are an IT worker, an English teacher, an oncology nurse, a sales professional, a software engineer, a corporate lawyer and a civil litigator. 

“This will be your permanent seat for the duration of the trial,” the judge told the panelists, sitting in the jury box, before they raised their right hands and were sworn in.    

The court will remain closed on Wednesday, because on that day Judge Merchan serves on the Manhattan Mental Health Court, which seeks to find alternatives to incarceration for offenders with mental health problems.

The proceedings will resume on Thursday. Of the twelve jurors needed, seven were sworn in, leaving 5 seats to be filled. The judge said he would also like to choose six alternate jurors. 

Court will resume on Thursday.