A juror in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial was excused from jury duty on Thursday after a prosecutor claimed the man had been arrested for tearing down political posters advertising for “the political right” in the 1990s. The juror had previously answered under oath that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.
According to Fox News, the man, designated as juror #4, was excused by New York Judge Juan Merchan Thursday morning in the criminal trial regarding Trump’s alleged hush-honey payments during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press reported that a prosecutor working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office questioned the honesty of the juror since he claimed that he had never been accused of a crime despite being arrested for tearing down political posters.
“I actually believe the propaganda that was being ripped down was political posters that were on the right — the political right,” Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said, according to Fox News.
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According to Fox News, when potential jurors are going through the jury selection process, they are asked whether they have ever been arrested and whether someone close to them has ever been arrested. The outlet reported that Steinglass also claimed that the juror’s wife had formerly been associated with a “corruption inquiry” that involved a “deferred prosecution agreement with the district attorney’s office.”
Sharing a video of a Fox News reporter breaking the news of juror #4’s dismissal, the “johnny maga” X account tweeted, “A juror seated in Trump’s trial was just dismissed after it was found out he was arrested for engaging in POLITICAL VANDALISM against the right. He lied under oath in order to ‘get Trump.’”
The social media user also suggested that the incident showed the criminal trial against the former president is “rigged.”
The dismissal of juror #4 followed shortly after the dismissal of juror #2 on Thursday. According to The Associated Press, a female nurse designated as juror #2 noted that she did not think she would be able to be “fair” in the trial after being sworn in earlier in the week.
“Yesterday alone I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone regarding questioning my identity as a juror,” she told the court on Thursday. “I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision making in the courtroom.”
Following the dismissal of juror #2 and juror #4, only five jurors remain sworn in for Trump’s criminal trial in New York. According to Fox News, the court will need 13 more jurors to be sworn in before the trial can proceed to opening arguments.
