Donald Trump is set to become the first former president to stand trial in a criminal case, with jury selection beginning Monday in lower Manhattan. Potential jurors will answer 42 questions to determine whether they can be impartial in the criminal hush money case brought by the Manhattan district attorney. NBC New York’s Melissa Russo reports.
Jury selection gets underway Monday in Manhattan for the first-ever criminal trial against a former president of the United States.
Donald Trump has been charged with 34 low level counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
As with his previous trials in New York City, security is expected to be tight.
The former president is expected to be in the courtroom at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse at 100 Centre Street for six to eight weeks. Court officers say they're being redeployed by the dozens from every other city courthouse.
If the scene at Trump's arraignment last year is any sign, the trial could be a spectacle for weeks or even months.
There's no specific list of potential street closures, but the public can expected to see widespread impacts around the courthouse, and potentially near Trump Tower along Fifth Avenue.
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"While operational security precludes us from going into specifics, the U.S. Secret Service will not seek any special accommodations outside of what would be required to ensure the continued safety of the former president," Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney, U.S. Secret Service’s New York Field Office, said in a statement.
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The area around the court is expected to be heavily restricted.
The head of the NYPD did not get into specifics either, but stressed that longstanding partnerships with other local and federal agencies "will help secure the courthouse and everyone inside, facilitate peaceful assembly outside the building, and maintain the safe flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the surrounding areas for the duration of the proceedings.”
Public fervor has certainly ebbed significantly since the start of Trump's legal troubles, making it slightly more difficult to predict what kind of attention Manhattan could see Monday, or in the weeks that follow.
Trump on Saturday lit into New York prosecutors and the criminal hush money case they brought against him during his last rally before what he called a “communist show trial” begins Monday.
"I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I'm not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk," said Trump, who has been barred from publicly discussing potential witnesses and jurors but not the judge or prosecutors.
Trump is navigating four separate criminal prosecutions while running to avenge his loss to President Joe Biden, creating an unprecedented swirl of legal and political chaos.
