Politics
Court Reporter Makes Stunning Revelation About Prospective Trump Juror, Quickly Deletes Post
A courtroom reporter made a stunning revelation about a prospective juror in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s dubious case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Olivia Nuzzi, a correspondent for New York Magazine, revealed in an X post that one prospective juror in former President Trump’s “hush money” case has a son who works for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Jeffries has advanced a number of debunked conspiracy theories surrounding the former president in recent years. Following the 2016 election, Jeffries refused to accept the results, instead claiming that the election had been hacked by the Russian government. He also consistently attacks Trump voters as “extreme MAGA” while portraying them as threats to national security.
“Inside the courtroom, a prospective juror tells the court that her 24-year-old son works for @RepJeffries,” Nuzzi wrote. The post was soon deleted after a number of reposts led to intense backlash considering Jeffries’ far-left views and opposition to the former president.
The post provided yet another insight into how the jury in deep blue New York City is shaping up. Earlier this week, it was reported that one prospective juror had attended a Biden victory celebration in 2021. Despite this, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that she was not disqualified from the jury pool since she thought it was a “celebration of essential workers.”
Another potential juror, who was dismissed only due to a scheduling conflict, rattled off a lengthy list of anti-Trump political talking points when asked for her thoughts on the case.
This lady was supposed to be a juror in Manhattan for the case against Trump.
She was dismissed… but only due to a scheduling conflict.
Does she sound impartial to you?
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 17, 2024
Nuzzi addressed the deletion of her report in a follow-up X post on Thursday evening.
“Nobody asked me to delete anything. Nobody even complained. I don’t take direction from any government or political officials,” she wrote. “It’s my first day in court and while what I shared did not technically violate the new rules the court has for the press meant to help jurors not be identified, I felt after the fact that it was still borderline, and I determined on my own that it was best to delete it.”
Nobody asked me to delete anything. Nobody even complained. I don’t take direction from any government or political officials. It’s my first day in court and while what I shared did not technically violate the new rules the court has for the press meant to help jurors not be…
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) April 18, 2024
Shortly before 4 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday, MSNBC analyst Katie Phang reported that 12 jurors and one alternate have been seated for the case. Tomorrow, the court will be sifting through 96 prospective jurors in hopes of seating at least five more alternate jurors.
