As his attorneys and the prosecution worked out pretrial motions in preparation for jury selection in his criminal case, former President Donald J. Trump seemed alternately agitated and fatigued. On many occasions, Trump’s jaw dropped, and his head drooped down his chest, giving the impression that he had fallen asleep.
Todd Blanche, his primary lawyer, fed notes to Trump until he seemed to snap out of it. Trump also whispered and exchanged notes with Blanche on occasion. Prosecutors read excerpts from the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” video, including his statements, while he remained perfectly still.
At times, Donald Trump’s emotions were worn on his sleeve, as he sneered, smirked, and seemed irritated when the judge, Juan M. Merchan, denied his request to attend his youngest son Barron’s graduation.
The former president acknowledged Justice Merchan’s warning that he would be jailed for disrupting the proceedings. One of Trump’s social media postings criticized his longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who will likely be the prosecution’s key witness. This post was the only time Trump broke from his solemn face, cracking up when it was presented in court.
Even though Donald Trump will make history on Monday as the first US president to stand trial, his campaign has vehemently denied reports that he dozed off during the proceedings.
The Biden/Harris campaign, which has been plagued by Trump’s derogatory term for the president, “Sleepy Joe,” for quite some time, jumped on the hashtag trend when the accusation toward Trump was made public.
With scores of prospective jurors being examined for possible prejudice against the ex-president, who is facing 34 felony charges of manipulating company records to conceal payments to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, jury selection is anticipated to continue throughout the week.
From his seat at the defendant’s table in Manhattan Criminal Court, Trump saw the rejection of over fifty prospective jurors on the first day.
