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The first day of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York has adjourned.
Jury selection got underway after the judge presiding over the case declined to recuse himself.
Trump’s attorneys motioned for Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself, arguing he is biased due to various connections to the Democratic party, including that his daughter, who has worked to raise money for Democrats.
Merchan argued Trump's team failed to provide proof of his inability to act impartially in the case, citing a report from an advisory committee that found no basis for him to recuse himself.
Trump has called the trial "rigged" in statements on social media and at the Manhattan courthouse on Monday.
At least 50 potential jurors were released after admitting they couldn’t be fair and impartial. 96 jurors were brought in to the courtroom from a pool of 200.
After the proceedings Trump told the media that the judge would not let him attend his son’s high school graduation or arguments before the US Supreme Court over his claim of immunity.
The case originates from the investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump is in New York for the proceedings.
Critics have characterized the case as overtly political. Trump had previously been investigated by federal prosecutors in 2019 for the same payments, but they chose not to charge him.
Similarly, the Federal Election Commission investigated the matter in 2021 and also opted not to press charges against Trump.
Now, Alvin Bragg has filed 34 counts of falsifying business records against Trump, to which the former president has pleaded 'Not Guilty.'
Bragg's charges mark the first in a series of historically unprecedented legal cases against a former president, with this being the initial of four separate cases against Trump set to go to trial.