Democrat says ‘sanctity’ of jury pool will be ‘vital’ in Trump trial

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former federal prosecutor, weighed in on former President Trump’s first day in court for his hush money trial, saying he’s glad the jury selection process is exhaustive because the “sanctity” of the pool of jurors will be “vital” in the case.

“So, I wonder who is actually pulling him or herself out because of bias. Is it bias against Trump? Is it bias for Trump? It’s very hard to tell,” Goldman told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Monday evening. “But I am glad that there will be an exhaustive voir dire of the jurors because I do think that the sanctity of the jury pool is going to be vital in this trial.”

“This is going to be a model for many Americans as to how criminal trials work, how our country’s rule of law operates,” he added. “And how no person, whether the former president or anyone else, is above the law.”

Trump made history Monday as the first former or current U.S. president to face a criminal trial. Prosecutors in the case alleged Trump illegally falsified business records when reimbursing his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for paying adult film actor Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Nearly 100 New Yorkers filled the courtroom for the first day of jury selection. But by the time the day wrapped up, it was clear how difficult it would be to find an impartial panel of jurists.

Among the 96 potential jurors who showed up, around half told the judge they could not be fair and impartial in the former president’s trial. Jury selection process will continue Tuesday morning, but the search could easily drag on.

Ultimately, 12 jurors and six alternates need to be chosen.

Goldman said the trial will give many Americans an idea of how criminal trials and the country’s rule of law work because Trump will “be treated as any other defendant” and politicization will have to stay out of the courtroom.

“The only thing that will come in will be facts and evidence, according to the rule of law,” Goldman told Psaki, the former White House press secretary. “And these jurors will ultimately decide whether or not the evidence … proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump committed these crimes.”

“That’s what our great system is based on,” he said.