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Donald Trump's legal team will be looking for poorly educated people to place on the jury in the former president's hush money trial, an attorney has said.
Eric Anderson, counsel at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae in Los Angeles, told Newsweek that defense lawyers "will look for people who feel aggrieved or persecuted, lack trust in government or institutions, and possess a copy of the Bible or the Left Behind series."
The Left Behind series is a series of best-selling Christian novels about people left behind on earth after the "rapture" of believers to heaven. It is closely associated with conservative values.
Anderson said Trump's lawyers "will also want jurors who, if they have social media, have never commented on Trump" and "people who feel they have been treated unfairly and poorly educated white people."
Seven jurors have already been selected. Selection continues on Thursday for the remaining five jurors and six alternates. Alternates are needed in case jurors are removed or are too ill to continue.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in United States history to stand trial in a criminal case. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The prosecution seeks to prove that before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid, or discussed paying, two women—adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—not to disclose his alleged affairs with them.
As part of the "pattern of behavior" narrative to back up those claims, prosecutors allege that a payment was made to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know that Trump allegedly fathered a child with another woman.
Prosecutors say National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. bought the rights to the doorman's story following an agreement between its then CEO David Pecker and Trump to look out for negative stories about the then presidential candidate. Trump has denied all the allegations and says he is the target of a political witch hunt.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Thursday.
During the selection process, over 500 potential jurors fill out questionnaires about their beliefs and, if selected to come forward, are asked further questions about their political and social background. Prosecution and defense lawyers can each eliminate 10 potential jurors without explanation and have an unlimited number of eliminations for jurors if they can satisfy the judge the person is biased.
Anderson said the prosecution "will want high-information voters who feel everyone is treated the same under the law, people who believe in institutions like government, and schools."
"Higher-educated voters will be preferable in many instances, but those without college or professional degrees who display a keen interest in paying attention to details and who regularly take in and process lots of information on a daily basis would also be acceptable," he said.
Update, 4/18/24, 4:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated to attribute quotes to Eric Anderson, counsel at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more