NEW YORK (AP) — Twelve jurors and one alternate have been seated in Donald Trump ‘s hush money case, quickly propelling the jury selection process forward after a morning that saw two previously sworn-in jurors dismissed — one after she expressed new doubt in her ability to be fair and impartial following the disclosure of details about her identity and the other over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime.
Lawyers in the trial now need to select five alternates to round out the panel that will decide the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign.
The allegations focus on payoffs to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock. Trump says none of the alleged sexual encounters occurred.
The case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial.
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