Donald Trump complains jury selection moving too fast in hush money trial
- The ex-US president says he should be allowed ‘unlimited’ strikes to reject jurors, when the defence and prosecutors each have 10
- Trump had earlier complained the trial would take him off the campaign trail for too long, but now says it is being rushed
Former US president Donald Trump complained on Wednesday about jury selection in his New York hush money case as the trial moved faster than expected toward opening statements.
After prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed on a surprisingly robust total of seven jurors in one day, Trump sought to tap the brakes on the process that seemed to be going remarkably smoothly.
The first former US president to face a criminal trial said he should be allowed to reject as many jurors as he wants if he suspects the New York residents aren’t going to give him a fair shake.
“I thought STRIKES were supposed to be “unlimited” when we were picking our jury?” Trump wrote on his social media site. “I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough.”
He denounced Manhattan as the “second worst venue” for a trial, apparently comparing it with Washington, where he will face a separate federal election interference trial.