By DAVID BAUDER and LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press Writers)
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial told the media on Thursday to not reveal where potential jurors have worked and to be careful about sharing information about those who will sit in judgment of the former president.
Judge Juan Merchan took action after one juror was dismissed for worrying about being publicly known for her role in the case.
It's difficult to keep jurors anonymous in a case that has generated wide interest, while lawyers need as much information as possible to choose the jury.
Despite the setback, 12 jurors were selected by the end of Thursday for the historic trial over a $130,000 hush money payment shortly before the 2016 election to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her from making public her claims of a sexual meeting with Trump years earlier. Trump has denied the encounter. The dismissed juror told Merchan she had friends, colleagues, and family members contacting her to ask whether she was on the case. “I don’t believe at this point I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision-making in the courtroom,” she said.
Merchan directed reporters not to report it when potential jurors told the court their specific workplaces, past or present. That put journalists in the difficult position of not reporting something they heard in open court, and some media organizations were considering whether to protest having that onus placed on them.
Even if that specific information wasn’t released, there was some concern that enough information about potential jurors would get out that people might be able to identify them anyway.
Politico on Thursday identified one potential juror as “a woman who lives in Manhattan and works as an asset manager.” She grew up in England and Hong Kong and lives with a self-employed boyfriend.
Another potential juror was identified as “an attorney for a large media company who lives in Gramercy Park.”
On Fox News Channel Wednesday night, host Jesse Watters did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were “stealth liberals” who would be out to convict Trump.
“This nurse scares me if I’m Trump,” he said. “She’s from the Upper East Side, master’s degree, not married, no kids, lives with her fiance and gets her news from The New York Times and CNN.”
Besides his order about employment history, Merchan said he w