Highlights from Day 4 of Trump’s hush money trial

The New Yorkers who could decide Trump's fate were vetted in real time today by the former president’s defense team.

As the potential alternate jurors were being questioned by prosecutors seeking to convict Trump of illegally paying hush money to a porn star, and by defense attorneys trying to keep him out of jail, a jury consultant hired by Trump’s legal team was watching the candidates closely for telltale signs of possible bias while simultaneously feeding the defense attorneys her impressions.

Meanwhile, a team of researchers working with the jury consultant were doing social media and other online searches to fill out the picture of every potential juror and sending that information to Trump’s lawyers in the courtroom.

Read the full story here.

An eyewitness said he saw police empty a fire extinguisher on the man who set himself on fire outside of the courthouse this afternoon.

"He was alive and moving when they put him on the ambulance, and they got him out of here pretty quickly," freelance photojournalist Ed Quinn told NBC News in an interview.

Quinn said he was standing alongside the fence at Collect Pond Park near the courthouse when the park filled with smoke, "and then the smoke from the fire extinguisher was billowing around. People were horrified."

In a separate case, New York Attorney General Letitia James today asked that a judge void Trump's bond in his civil fraud case, questioning whether the company that issued it has the funds to back it up.

In a 26-page filing ahead of a scheduled hearing on Monday, James expressed concern about whether Knight Specialty Insurance Company could secure the $175 million bond. She also argued that the collateral put up by the former president should be under the full control of the company.

One of James’ concerns about KSIC is that the insurer “is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state’s insurance department.” She added that the company “had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million.”

Read the full story here.

The former president's motorcade returned to Trump Tower, where he waved to the crowd, shortly after 5 p.m.

On his way out of the courtroom today, Trump was asked whether he will testify in this case.

He answered simply, "Yes."

Trump previously indicated he would take the stand.

Another appeals court has denied Trump's request to delay the hush money trial.

Trump's lawyers filed another appeal of the decision to not move the trial out of Manhattan.

Trump spoke with reporters after the court was adjourned, reiterating accusations that the trial is a "concerted witch hunt" and repeating unfounded claims that he was being targeted to hurt his campaign.

After this morning complaining to reporters that the case was keeping him stuck in court for weeks, this afternoon Trump complained that the judge was moving too quickly.

Trump also railed against the civil fraud case, also in New York, criticizing New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron.

The former president did not answer shouted questions from reporters.

The court adjourned for the day.

Trial proceedings will resume on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Judge Merchan said this afternoon that the trial will move to opening statements on Monday, a timeline he said he was aiming for earlier this week.

“We’re going to have opening statements on Monday morning. This trial is starting," Merchan said.

Judge Merchan said that he would not consider Trump's immunity motion that was filed just before the hush money trial began.

“That matter is decided and will not be addressed any further," Merchan said.

Judge Merchan told attorneys that he'll have an answer on the Sandoval hearing questions on "Monday morning."

He added that he'll also need time that day "for a few matters I want to take up including pre-motion letters that have been filed."

His remarks came after the court heard arguments over what prosecutors plan to ask defendants on cross-examination in order to help them decide whether to take the stand in their own defense.

In the Sandoval hearing, lawyers for both sides have ticked through the cases that prosecutors want to be able to ask Trump about if he testifies. Included in them is a case that Merchan himself presided over.

"As your honor knows as you presided over the trial, my colleagues argued extensively Mr. Trump knew about the scheme to defraud and conspiracy and falsifying business records," said prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.

"The owners of the corporation knew it and the owner was Mr Trump. The evidence at that trial showed the defendant knew and the court of appeals says the defendant can be questioned, and we don’t see any issue with the witness advocate where the attorney would be a fact witness," he added. "We only want to question the defendant about the fact and there is no plausible problem there.”

In a tense exchange over redacting certain documents, Bove told Merchan that prosecutors "have been invested in this case since 2018, and to say this is too much work is outrageous,” referring to Trump's attorneys' claim that it would be too much work to redact certain documents.

"I am not going to ask people to do that. It is absurd,” the judge told Trump's lawyer, adding, "Have a seat, I am signing the order."

Maxwell Azzarello, the man identified by police as the person who set himself on fire, had thrown numerous pamphlets around a park near the courthouse, authorities said.

“The pamphlets appear to be propaganda-based, almost a conspiracy theory type of pamphlet,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters. "So, a little bit of a conspiracy theory going on here."

Azzarello took out a canister from his bag containing what’s believed to be an alcohol-based accelerant, doused himself and set himself ablaze, police said.

Trump is back in the courtroom as the trial resumes. Lawyers are expected to discuss his possible testimony now.

Police identified the man who set himself on fire as Maxwell Azzarello, of St. Augustine, Florida.

He is alive, currently intubated and in critical condition at the Weill Cornell Medicine — Burn Center.

Azzarello arrived in New York sometime earlier in the week, and his car was known to be in St. Augustine on the 13th. Police said they've spoken with his family, who were unaware he was in New York.

The Trump campaign released a statement this afternoon offering its "condolences to the traumatized witnesses" after a man set himself on fire outside the courthouse where the former president is on trial.

“Not knowing the motivations behind this sickening situation, it’s difficult to make any definitive remarks, other than to say we are thankful that to the best of our present knowledge, nobody other than the individual in question was hurt," national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

She also thanked "the great first responders of the City of New York for their actions.""Today is more proof that our nation is in deep trouble," Leavitt added before using Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again."

Ed Quinn, a freelance photojournalist who lives in the East Village, said he was facing the court when “I heard someone scream, ‘He’s going to light himself on fire.’”

“I see him dumping gasoline on his face, very deliberately,” he said. “He had gray T-shirt on. It soaked his face. It soaked his shirt. Boom, he went up.”

Quinn said it took the police about a minute to arrive. “Women were begging, screaming, put it out, put him out,” he said.

In a new post on his social media network Truth Social, Trump accused Merchan of "railroading" him.

“Judge Merchan is 'railroading' me, at breakneck speed, in order to completely satisfy his 'friends.' Additionally, he has 'GAGGED' me so that I cannot talk about the most important of topics," Trump said in his post.

The former president also called President Joe Biden "crooked" and described this case as "election interference."

A video appears to show that moments after setting himself on fire, the man lay on the ground burning. At times, he appeared to seize. Police tried to use a small fire extinguisher to put the fire out, but were unsuccessful. While still on fire, the man tried to sit up. Police then used a large extinguisher to put out the fire.

An injured man is being placed in an ambulance in critical condition and will be transported to a hospital, the New York City Police Department said Friday afternoon following reports that a person set themselves on fire outside the courthouse.

Police said they responded at 1:37 p.m. to the vicinity of 80 Centre St. for an aided male.

The fire is out, and the investigation is ongoing, authorities added.

The New York Police Department already had a heavy presence outside of the courthouse, due to the high profile of this case. As smoke emerged from the dedicated protest area, they rushed to find what looked like a fire extinguisher.

A man set himself on fire inside the designated protest area outside of the Trump trial in New York, a witness says.

There is a person who was in the designated protest area outside the courthouse who is on fire.

A potential juror was excused after Trump's attorneys and Merchan examined his past social media posts about Trump.

“I don’t recall posting that,” the juror said. “That’s not mine.”

Still, the juror added, “At that time, yeah I may have thought that,” before he was excused by the judge.

The sixth alternate has been seated.

A male prospective juror said the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was an "insurrection" during voir dire with Trump's lawyer.

When asked if he has strong opinions and about his posts about Trump, he said, “It’s more just the negative rhetoric and bias that he speaks about which is the most harmful.”

Asked if the juror has expressed a strong dislike for Trump, he said, “Based on his rhetoric, yes.” He added that he would stay focused on “what is the law, what constitutes breaking the law?”

One juror, when questioned about how he views Trump, said that when he thinks of the former president, he thinks "usually awesome."

"I don’t know him personally. He’s a family man. He’s a businessman," the juror also said about Trump.

Once again Trump is getting treated to a mini political focus group in this courtroom, getting an inside look at potential voters in the 2024 election.

There are some potential jurors who said they support Trump's policies and find him to be a "family man." There is also at least one juror who said he has trouble with the Republican Party's positions on religion and women’s rights to control their own bodies. 

The trial continues to be a fascinating look at everyday New Yorkers for a presumptive GOP nominee thinking of how to message to voters this fall.

A prospective juror, asked about her views of Trump, said, “His rhetoric, at times, causes people to feel enabled.”

When asked what specifically about his rhetoric, she admitted she’s not even sure what his policies are, but noted that people have cited Trump in justifying their own racist, sexist or homophobic comments.

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles then asked whether this prospective juror, an admitted survivor of sexual assault, would hold it against Trump that women — outside this case — have accused Trump of sexual assault.

Yet another potential juror has been excused from the trial after saying that she is feeling "anxiety" and self-doubt. The potential juror's voice cracked while answering questions.

The juror is now the third to be excused Friday, underscoring the difficulty the court faces for picking Trump's jury.

One of the jurors being questioned, who earlier said her father is friends with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, broke down crying, saying, “I have to be honest, I feel so nervous and anxious right now. I’m sorry."

She added, "I thought I could do this ... I don’t want you to feel like I’ve wasted anyone’s time.”

Merchan called her over to the judge's bench to speak before excusing her.

A prospective juror who said she served two years in prison was dismissed by the judge who commended her bravery for sharing such personal details.

Technically, she is ineligible to serve on the jury.

“What you just did is something that most people in this courtroom would not be able to do," Merchan said to the juror.

Merchan said that the mere fact that she was convicted does not preclude her from service, but that she needs a certificate of release to be qualified for service going forward and, even then, it will depend on the nature of the case.

She was then excused and cheerfully called out, “Good luck!”

The jury selection process is resuming.

The court has taken a 10-minute break before questions for the alternate juror pool.

One potential juror answered that his hobbies included "trying to find a wife" in his spare time.

The insurance broker, who lives in Midtown East, also added that he has a few close friends who are court officers.

When a prospective juror said she is a Fox News viewer, Trump cocked his head, then quickly conferred with Blanche. The woman added she also reads The New York Times, New York Post and The Wall Street Journal.

Trump resumed looking at her as she finished responding to the questionnaire. He appears most interested in jurors whose answers offer ambiguity around their personal political views.

A potential juror who works in information technology and audio said that he listens to the "Order of Man" podcast, which happens to be very Joe Rogan-esque.

The podcast has had some Trump-supporting guests on, including one man who ordered his financial company to stop doing business in New York after the fraud judgment against Trump.

One juror told Merchan that he "volunteered for get out the vote for the Democratic Party during the Clinton campaign." The volunteer work would have taken place during the same election cycle when Trump beat Clinton to win the presidency.

The potential juror added that he also "attended the Women’s March.”

One juror, when asked by Merchan about whether they can be fair and impartial, brought up the landmark Supreme Court campaign finance case Citizens United, saying, "Citizens United is the law of the land but I do favor people who make political contributions to have the source of the contributions made public."

“There is no reason why I can’t be a fair and impartial juror,” the person added.

One potential juror, a younger man, said that he doesn't read or watch any news and while he has a Facebook account, he doesn't go on it.

He said he "signed up when I was in middle school or whatever."

The former president is sitting with his eyes shut and appears to be chewing on something as he sits at the defense table.

The first potential juror questioned this morning was dismissed after saying she has anxiety and wouldn't be "able to be completely here and fair."

“I have really really bad anxiety and people have found out where I am," she said earlier.

Trump just took his seat in the courtroom in between his attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche. He immediately began studying some documents in front of him and conferring with Bove. 

Still photographers were in for the daily photographs, several of them pressing up against the table to get close-ups. Merchan then took his seat on the bench, saying they were working on fixing the temperature in the courtroom, which was cold yesterday, before continuing jury selection.

Trump's campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, is in the back of the courtroom with lawyer Cliff Robert, who represents the Trump parties in the civil fraud case.

All 22 prospective jurors are present.

The 12-person jury and an alternate has been seated in the criminal trial of Trump, consisting of seven men and five women. Five more alternates will need to be selected in an effort to set up opening statements as soon as next week. 

As Trump entered the courthouse this morning, he said to the cameras that Merchan needs to remove the gag order against him because it's "very, very unfair."

"They've taken away my constitutional rights to speak," Trump said. "Why am I gagged about telling the truth?"

The former president repeated that he thinks the trial is "rigged" and is "coming from the White House" and said it's "very unfair" that he is required to sit in a courthouse all day instead of going to battleground states to campaign for president.

"The gag order has to come off," he said.

The former president's motorcade has departed Trump Tower and is headed to the courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon yesterday denied motions by two of Trump's co-defendants to dismiss charges in the classified documents case — one of the four criminal cases, along with the hush money trial, that the former president is facing.

Trump aide Walt Nauta’s lawyers asked this month for five charges against him to be dismissed, while lawyers for Carlos De Oliveira, who was the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate, requested that all charges against him be tossed out.

In her filing in Florida, Cannon said De Oliveira “does not meaningfully dispute that the charging document satisfies the minimum pleading standards.” She also noted that his lawyers can challenge prosecutors’ evidence during a trial, “where the Special Counsel will bear the entire burden of proof as to all essential elements of the obstruction offenses.”

Similarly, she dismissed the motion from Nauta’s lawyers, who had argued that obstruction charges against him were unconstitutionally vague.

Legal experts have suggested that Trump’s hush money case is the weakest, but the Manhattan DA says it goes beyond that and has more to do with election interference in the 2016 election. 

Jury selection will continue — and could conclude — today in Trump‘s historic New York criminal trial.

With a full 12-person jury and one alternate juror sworn in yesterday, Merchan has called a pool of 96 potential jurors to his Manhattan courtroom in hope of finding five more alternate jurors for the first trial of a former president, which is expected to last roughly six weeks.

In addition to those 96 potential jurors, there are 22 left over from yesterday who will be questioned, as well.

If the effort to fill the jury box is successful, opening statements could take place as soon as Monday.

Jury selection in Trump’s hush money trial yesterday revealed there are certain topics that are likely to capture his attention: Miami, real estate and media.

When one New Yorker talked about his decades in law enforcement, Trump raised his eyebrows. The juror, who said he holds Yankees season tickets, added that he reads the New York Post and Daily News. It was as if Trump, who moments earlier let out a yawn, was seized by an electrical current.

Later, Trump straightened his back and cocked his chin as a young lawyer, born and raised in Miami, began running through her answers to the jury questionnaire. Asked whether she had been the victim of a crime, the woman said her phone was stolen from her in Paris, and she noted that her family’s car was “incidentally burned in an arson in Italy.”