Victoria Bekiempis

Jury selection can be a slog, especially in high-profile cases where virtually prospective juror has heard of the case.

The prosecution and defense, as well as reporters and observers watching this case, are dug in, preparing for a process that will easily enter next week. Still, there are always moments of levity amid the process.

One prospective juror, answering screening questions, said: “I dated a lawyer for a while, it ended fine,” prompting chuckles in the overflow room.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office have filed a motion for contempt against Donald Trump.

In the motion filed on Tuesday, prosecutors argue that Trump “wilfully violated this court’s [gag] order by publishing several social media posts attacking two known witnesses – Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.”

In one of Trump’s social media posts, he called his former lawyer Michael Cohen a “disgraced attorney and felon” before going on to call judge Juan Merchan and prosecutors “thugs.”

The motion said:

“It is absolutely critical that defendant immediately halt any conduct that would violate the April 1 order’s narrow restrictions to protect the integrity of the ongoing trial. A finding of criminal contempt, imposition of sanctions, and stark warnings from this court are the minimum remedies necessary to achieve this indispensable objective.”

Victoria Bekiempis

Another one bites the dust. This morning, another prospective juror was excused – after citing his Texas upbringing and his familiars’ political leanings.

“Growing up in the state of Texas, graduating from Texas A&M University,” the prospect said, saying he could have “unconscious bias” that could get in the way of being impartial.

While the man did not himself say he leaned in any particular political direction, he said that “Growing up, a bunch of family [and] friends [were] Republicans.” It’s “probably going to be hard for me to be impartial.”

Judge Juan Merchan called both sides to the bench to discuss the potential panelist. The conversation was brief. “I appreciate your candor. I’m going to have to excuse you at this time,” he said.

Victoria Bekiempis

Donald Trump somewhat responded to two questions about voters when he was in the hallway.

“The voters understand, what you have to do is look at the polls,” Trump said, per the hallway pooler.

Trump didn’t take questions, though several queries were shouted. Did Trump think he violated judge Juan Merchan’s gag order? Is he worried about voters? Was he happy to have a jury at this trial?

He also seemed to address the issue at hand for this trial – did his alleged handling of purported hush-money payments flout record-keeping laws?

“I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense of accountant and I didn’t know mark it down as a legal expense. That’s exactly what it was,” the hallway pooler quoted Trump as saying.

Donald Trump arrives in Manhattan courtroom

Victoria Bekiempis

Donald Trump arrived at the Manhattan courtroom Tuesday morning at around 9:30 am, for the second day of his hush-money trial.

Trump donned a deep blue suit – it wasn’t quite navy, but exceeded the depth of sapphire – and a coordinating necktie. As Trump walked down the aisle, into the well, he winked at a court security officer, according to a pool report. He kept his eyes facing straight.

Victoria Bekiempis

The prosecution team has entered the courtroom for day two of Donald Trump’s history-making criminal trial.

We are soon expecting Donald Trump, who arrived at the courthouse around 8:50 am.

Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.

Good morning.

The criminal trial of Donald Trump has entered its second day as jury selection remains under way.

The first former US president to stand criminal trial, Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records surrounding hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly tried to get the trial postponed by attempting to remove Judge Juan Merchan – who is overseeing the case – and challenge his rulings, including a gag order. Trump’s lawyers have also tried – and failed – to move the trial from Manhattan over claims that the former president would not be able to get a fair jury pool in the heavily Democratic borough.

In a selection process that is expected to take several days, more than 500 potential jurors have been summoned to the Manhattan courthouse. Each potential juror is expected to read their responses to a 42-point questionnaire while Merchan informs them of the individuals who are expected to appear in the trial, including potential witnesses.

In a win for prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday, Merchan allowed them to admit as evidence the full transcript of Trump’s 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which he said he could grab women “by the pussy”.

Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates.

Here are other developments in US politics:

• House Republicans are set to present impeachment articles against the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

• Joe Biden is expected to travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania, for two campaign events later today.