Jury selection continues in Trump trial; Prosecutor's Office requests punishment of the former president for contempt

Prosecutors in Donald Trump's trial over payments made to silence accusations asked Thursday that the former president be found guilty of contempt and fined for seven social media posts that they said violated a judge's gag order prohibiting him from attacking witnesses.

Meanwhile, the jury selection process at the New York court suffered a setback when one of the seven jurors chosen, an oncology nurse, was dismissed after telling the court she had concerns about her ability to be impartial in the trial. first criminal case against a former president.

Although the names of the jurors are being kept confidential, the woman said her family and friends asked her about being a juror.

The withdrawal leaves six on the jury panel so far, including a software engineer, an information technology professional, a sales professional, an English professor and two lawyers.

Another 12 people have yet to be sworn in, and the judge said he anticipated opening statements in the landmark case to begin next week.

After asking the jury to leave the room, Judge Juan Mercha ordered journalists in court not to publish potential jurors' answers to questions about their current and former employers.

He said that “as evidenced by what has happened, it has become a problem.” Responses will also be redacted from court transcripts.

Prosecutors had asked that information about employers be removed from the jury questionnaire. Defense attorney Todd Blanche responded that “depriving us of information because of what the media is doing is not the answer.”

The judge said he agreed “that this information is necessary.”

Trump has been posting on social media since Monday, when prosecutors first sought a $3,000 fine for the former president for three posts on Truth Social that they say violated the order.

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