Former President Trump described the upcoming jury selection in his first criminal trial as “largely luck” on Friday.
Trump was asked about his hush money trial that begins on Monday in New York at a press conference alongside Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at Mar-a-Lago.
“Jury selection is largely luck,” the former president said. “It depends who you get. It's very unfair that I'm having a trial there.”
The multi-step jury selection process is set to begin Monday morning, with hundreds of prospective jurors being summoned to the courthouse. They will be whittled down to a list of 12 jurors and six alternates. Each side can attempt to challenge jurors for cause, and they’ll also have a limited number of strikes they can use without providing a reason.
The former president on Friday again suggested he may testify at the trial once it gets underway, as he has previously said.
“Yeah I would testify, absolutely,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago. “It's a scam. It's a scam, that's not a trial.”
Jurors are not allowed to hold it against Trump if he chooses not to testify.
Trump’s legal team has pulled out all the stops for an eleventh-hour delay of the upcoming trial, but separate judges have rejected four of the former president’s delay attempts just this week.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has accused Trump of falsifying business records when he reimbursed his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, for a 2016 hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump, who denies the affair, pleaded not guilty.