NEW YORK — Seven diverse New Yorkers were sworn in as jurors at Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Tuesday, securing their places in history as those who will weigh the first criminal charges ever brought against a former U.S. president.

Among the three women and four men chosen to serve were an oncology nurse who lives on the Upper East Side; a corporate attorney from Oregon who lives in Chelsea; an English teacher from Harlem who said she respected that Trump “speaks his mind”; an IT worker originally from Puerto Rico who said he found Trump’s ability to walk into a room and set everyone off was “fascinating”; and a software engineer and recent college graduate who lives in Chelsea and said she could be impartial.

The jury foreperson identified himself to the court Monday as a native of Ireland who lives in West Harlem, works in sales and consumes liberal and conservative-leaning media. The seventh juror selected to serve was a civil litigator from the Upper East Side who grew up in North Carolina.

Before the trial, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the jurors set to decide whether Trump is a felon will remain anonymous to the public and their addresses unknown to the defendant, mentioning their safety.

Merchan told them to plan on coming back to court on Monday for opening statements unless notified otherwise. The remaining five members of the jury and six alternates are still to be selected for the trial, which is expected to last up to two months — all of which Trump has to be present for.

Trump was back in the judge’s bad graces before the first jurors were chosen when his lawyer asked a few prospective panelists about their social media activity. The judge said he spotted Trump acting hostile toward a woman summoned for further questioning, whom Merchan ultimately deemed credible.

“He was gesturing, and he was speaking in (their) direction,” Merchan said. “I won’t tolerate that — I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's historic case is the culmination of a yearslong investigation into Trump and his alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election by paying hush money to silence stories of his sexual trysts with porn star Stormy Daniels and other women.

The trial is expected to resume on Thursday.

Also Tuesday, prosecutors filed their motion asking Merchan to hold Trump in criminal contempt after saying they would do so Monday.

...continued

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