NEW YORK — Two jurors in the Donald Trump hush money trial were excused Thursday, one after telling the court she was too scared and intimidated to serve, as prosecutors renewed their request to hold Trump in criminal contempt over alleged gag order violations.

The first juror, one of seven initially chosen to serve on the case, told Judge Juan Merchan that she was too scared to proceed after her friends, family and colleagues guessed that she had been chosen. Merchan has ruled that the jurors will be anonymous to protect their safety and privacy.

The second juror was excused after prosecutors raised questions about a juror who Tuesday had called Trump “fascinating and mysterious” — after discovering a man with the same name was arrested for tearing down right-wing political posters in the ‘90s. The juror was later excused after a minutes-long sidebar inaudible to members of the media in the courtroom.

As jury selection continued Thursday morning, half of a new panel of prospective jurors — 48 of the 96 total people — said they could not be impartial toward the former president and were excused. As they left the courtroom, Trump turned his head to stare at them.

Nine additional jurors were excused after they said they couldn’t serve on the jury for other reasons.

Shortly after Trump arrived at the courthouse with his Secret Service entourage for the third day of his trial Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy told the court that Trump had violated a gag order preventing comments about jurors, witnesses and other trial participants seven times since he last got in trouble for doing so.

“It’s ridiculous, it has to stop,” Conroy said.

“Most disturbing,” the prosecutor said, was a post that went up on Trump’s Truth Social account Wednesday night quoting Fox News host Jesse Watters commenting on the jury.

Merchan, on Monday, scheduled a hearing for next week to address Trump’s other potential violations of the gag order. Conroy said the prosecution was seeking monetary sanctions and “still considering our options.”

In response to the prosecution’s request, Trump lawyer Emil Bove, who has been handling his appeals, said the posts in question — including Watters’ description of the panelists as “liberal activists” and links to articles calling witness Michael Cohen a “serial perjurer” — did not “establish any willful violations.”

...continued

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.