The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal trial for hush money payments reprimanded Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche for interrupting jury selection and appearing to intimidate a potential juror.
The judge warned he would not tolerate any juror intimidation and told Blanche to speak to Trump about his behavior after Trump was muttering audibly near the juror.
“He was gesturing and muttering something. He was audible. He was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that,” New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said.
“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear,” the judge added.
Six jurors have now been selected, representing a diverse cross-section of New York City.
They include a salesman, nurse, attorney, IT consultant, teacher, and software engineer.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and criticized the case as politically motivated.
At the start of the trial, the judge denied Trump’s motion for recusal, rejecting arguments that he was biased against Trump.
