Only about one-third of Americans think former President Donald Trump did something illegal in the hush money case, according to a poll released Tuesday, the second day of jury selection in New York.
However, nearly half of respondents believe Mr. Trump did something unlawful in the other three criminal cases against him, according to the poll from AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
In the New York case, 35% of those polled said Mr. Trump did something illegal.
State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan and attorneys will spend another day vetting potential jurors to whittle down a massive pool of Manhattanites into a 12-person panel that will determine whether Mr. Trump is guilty of charges that he criminally concealed payments to a porn actress and others near the 2016 election.
The day started with about 32 potential jurors in the courtroom. One juror was feeling flu-like symptoms and was excused.
Polls show Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, locked in a close race with President Biden, or leading in some cases, ahead of a November rematch.
“The voters understand. What you have to do is look at the polls,” Mr. Trump said as he entered the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday.
The New York case is one of four criminal matters facing Mr. Trump as he campaigns for president. The hush money prosecution might be the only one to go to trial before the November election, and the Tuesday poll suggests it is the least worrisome for the American public.
Still, half of Americans would consider Mr. Trump unfit to serve as president if he is convicted of falsifying business documents.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Trump paid $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged sexual encounter from nearly two decades ago, along with payments to a second woman who alleged an affair and a doorman who pushed an unproven story that Mr. Trump had a child out of wedlock.
They say Mr. Trump concealed the payments through reimbursements to his attorney-turned-accuser, Michael D. Cohen, that were recorded in official business ledgers on multiple dates in 2017.
Mr. Trump denies the claim of an affair with Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and says the charges are part of a broad Democratic plot to thwart his presidential bid.
“Every legal pundit, every legal scholar, said this trial is a disgrace. We have a Trump-hating judge. We have a judge who shouldn’t be on this case,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday morning before entering the courtroom. “I should be right now in Pennsylvania and Florida. In many other states, North Carolina, Georgia, campaigning. This is all coming from the Biden White House because the guy can’t put two sentences together. He can’t campaign.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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