Trump accuser asks jurors to put ‘personal politics’ aside in hush money trial: ‘Everyone and their mother has an opinion on this case’

The Manhattan District Attorney insisted that Donald Trump’s criminal trial was not a ‘popularity contest’ and urged potential jurors to put personal politics aside as he addressed them for the first time.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told 18 candidates in the jury box that ‘everyone and their mother’ has an opinion on the hush-money case as the brutal selection process dragged into its second day.

The court faces a monumental task in trying to accommodate 12 Manhattan residents who can be ‘impartial’ and ‘fair’ in history’s first trial against a former president.

Steinglass spoke to prospective jurors who had not been sent home after Trump arrived in court and attacked the judge after he was warned he would be jailed if he was disruptive.

He asked them if they were prepared to ‘look the defendant (Trump) in the eye and say he was guilty’.

The former president is on thin ice with his outbursts and social media posts after a judge scheduled a hearing to hold him in contempt later this month.

Trump glared at each member of the jury as they were peppered with questions from prosecutors.

He has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records over a $160,000 payment to cover up an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Many more jurors were sent home Tuesday morning, including Kara McGee, who was excused because it conflicted with work. She admitted she didn’t like Trump, but he still deserved a fair trial.

By lunchtime on Tuesday, 18 remained, answering questions from an ‘exhaustive’ list.

“Let’s talk about the obvious,” Steinglass said. “The defendant is both a former president and a candidate for that office.

“This matter has nothing to do with your personal politics,” he insisted. ‘It’s not a referendum’ on the Trump presidency. ‘This case is about whether this man broke the law.

With a large amount of understatement, Steinglass also told the court that several witnesses in the case ‘have some baggage’ and that one was a tabloid publisher and another was an adult movie star.

Then there was Michael Cohen, who had ‘pleaded guilty to numerous federal crimes, including lying to Congress’.

Trump shook his head in frustration when Steinglass said some witnesses had written books and made podcasts and ‘publicly denied’ many of the facts they were to testify about in the trial.

Trump’s frustration appeared to be directed at Cohen, whom he has repeatedly called a liar.

Steinglass said the case was ‘not a referendum on whether you like the witnesses’.

“Can you separate credibility from likeability?” he said. No one on the jury said it was a problem.

Steinglass said he would ‘go down the line, take a look at the defendant and look at yourself’ and ask if they could enter a guilty verdict if that was their decision.

Trump stared intently in the direction of the jury as they did so. All indicated that they could.

After the ex-president’s outburst outside court, Trump let off steam by winking at an official and asking ‘How are you?’ before he sits down.

Hundreds of potential jurors have been assembled and asked whether they can be impartial.

Judge Merchan has called the list of 42 questions potential jurors must answer, including which news outlets they tune into, ‘by far the most exhaustive questionnaire’ ever used in a trial.

On day two, a potential juror revealed that they had read three of Trump’s books.

The harmlessness made Trump, who had been stoned in the face, break out into a broad smile.

The man said he had read ‘Art of the Deal’ and How to be Rich and then battled over the name ‘Think Like a Champion’.

When he got it right, Trump nodded his approval.

Earlier, outside court, Trump raged: ‘I paid a lawyer and marked it as a legal expenses account. Some accountant – I didn’t know – marked it as a legal fee. That’s exactly what it was. And will you be prosecuted for it?

‘I should be right now in Pennsylvania in Florida, in many other states North Carolina, Georgia, campaigning.

It’s all coming from the Biden White House because the guy can’t put two sentences together. He cannot run an election campaign. They use this to try to win over a chosen one. And it doesn’t work’.

Trump arrived in court wearing a dark blue suit, blue shirt and blue tie, a change from his usual bright red tie.

After entering the courtroom, he sat down at a table with his lawyers and looked ahead while cocking his head from side to side, appearing impassive.