(NewsNation) — The potential biases of jurors in the trial regarding former President Donald Trump’s alleged hush money payment may be revealed through their media consumption, which might influence their verdict as they deliberate behind closed doors.
Jury questionnaires revealed that while most jurors, including alternates, read The New York Times, only one watches MSNBC. Another juror gets news from across the political spectrum, including Fox News, MSNBC, the Daily Mail and the Times.
One juror indicated getting news from Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, raising concerns that the juror could be a die-hard Trump supporter unlikely to vote for conviction.
“If one of the jurors uses Truth Social as one of the only sources of news, I’ve got to believe that that’s likely a Trump voter,” NewsNation host Dan Abrams said during a Wednesday discussion on “Dan Abrams Live.”
John Ziegler, a conservative commentator, also expressed skepticism about a juror from Truth Social convicting Trump: “That’s going to be against a lot of human nature and a lot of pressure in this very unique case,” he said.
Criminal defense attorney Bernarda Villalona echoed concerns about juror bias, questioning why the prosecution didn’t use a peremptory challenge to dismiss that juror.
Aitan Goelman, a former assistant U.S. attorney, noted that jurors are instructed to decide cases based on the evidence and law presented in court, and noted that, “In my experience, jurors actually try to do that.”.
The jury is set to resume deliberations Thursday in the case accusing Trump of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 election.
