According to Judge Juan Merchan, the juror was excused after later expressing doubt that she could remain fair and impartial. In particular, she said that friends and family had already reached out to ask if she was serving on the jury. (Salon)
Those calls came after numerous media outlets reported potentially identifying biographical information about the woman, including her job and the neighborhood she called home. Fox News Jesse Watters highlighted the juror’s details while reading through public pool notes about the selected members. “This nurse scares me if I’m Trump,” Watters said.
Watters has alleged without evidence that “liberal activists” are lying to get on the jury, a claim that Trump himself has repeated on Truth Social, potentially violating a gag order. Jury selection is continuing Thursday. Trump is facing charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush payment and affair with Stormy Daniels to unlawfully influence the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Merchan implored journalists to be more careful going forward, asking that they exercise “common sense” before reporting jurors’ biographical information, NBC News reported.