Trump trial: 1st week of testimony ends with testimony from Michael Cohen's former banker
Banker Gary Farro testified in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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What to know about the hush money case
READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.
Trump vows to continue fight against judge
Former President Donald Trump vowed to continue his effort to have the judge overseeing his case removed, as he exited the courtroom after a lengthy trial day.
"We are going to continue our fight against this judge," Trump told reporters, acknowledging he is having a "hard time with the New York state system."
Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump's second recusal motion on Monday, and an appellate court denied his effort to have the case delayed over the recusal effort last week.
"We have a very conflicted, highly conflicted judge. He shouldn't be on the case. He's rushing this trail, and he's doing as much as he can for the Democrats," Trump said, without evidence, before his motorcade departed the courthouse.
Day ends with 7 jurors selected, 11 more to go
After seating the seventh juror in the case, Judge Juan Merchan reiterated his hope that opening statements could commence Monday if the remaining jurors are selected by then.
Until then, "put the case out of your mind," Merchan told the seventh juror. "Don't think about it, don't talk about it."
The judge then concluded the proceedings for the day. Court will be in recess on Wednesday, and jury selection will resume Thursday with the fresh batch of 96 prospective jurors.
With seven jurors now seated, 11 more jurors -- six of them alternates -- remain to be chosen.
Judge swears in 7th juror
Judge Juan Merchan has sworn in and seated a seventh juror, selecting the North Carolina-born civil litigator who now resides on the Upper East Side, after neither party challenged his selection.
Prosecutors used two peremptory strikes on the real estate developer and former police photographer, who had both made it to the final round of questioning.
Merchan excused them both before swearing in the seventh juror.
The trial's first six jurors were sworn in and seated earlier Tuesday.
First 6 jurors represent cross-section of New York
The first six jurors selected to serve in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial represent a diverse cross-section of New York City, according to their biographical information. Here's a brief sketch of each juror, whose identities are being kept private for security reasons.
Juror No. 1 is a middle-aged salesman who immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He lives in West Harlem and said he normally gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC. In his spare time, he said he enjoys doing "anything outdoorsy."
Juror No. 2 works as an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She lives with her fiancé and enjoys taking her dog for walks in the park. She said she gets her news from The New York Times, CNN, Google, and Facebook.
Juror 3 is a corporate attorney who moved to New York from Oregon five years ago. He has worked at two major white-shoe law firms in New York. He said he normally gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Google. In his spare time, he said he enjoys hiking and running.
Juror No. 4 said he finds the former president to be "fascinating and mysterious." Originally from Puerto Rico, he has lived in the Lower East Side for the last 40 years. He is a self-employed IT consultant who attended one year of college and has been "married for a long time." He normally gets his news from the Daily News, The New York Times, Google.
Juror No. 5 was the only potential juror who raised her hand when lawyers asked if they had ever heard of Trump's other criminal cases. A life-long New Yorker, she currently works as an ELA teacher in a charter school and lives in Harlem. She normally gets her news from Google and TikTok but said that she "doesn't really care for the news."
Juror No. 6 is a software engineer who works for the Walt Disney Company, which is the parent company of ABC News. She grew up in New York City and lives in Chelsea with three roommates. She said she gets her news from The New York Times and TikTok. In her spare time, she said she enjoys plays, restaurants, dancing, and watching TV.
Judge denies motion to recuse himself
After attorneys for each side introduced themselves, Judge Juan Merchan said that before jury selection can begin "there are a couple of loose ends we need to go over before we start."
The first item, Merchan said, was a pair of motions filed by Trump's legal team seeking his recusal from the case, citing his past comments in interviews and his daughter's work with a Democrat-affiliated firm.
The motions, Merchan said, cite "pages and pages of screen grabs, articles, social media posts and the like" that amount only to "a series of inferences, innuendos, and unsupported speculation."
To call them "attenuated is an understatement," Merchan said.
Merchan denied the motion and said the court would not address the matter further.