Norman Eisen is the co-founder and a board member of States United Action, a nonpartisan group dedicated to free, fair, secure elections. Eisen previously served as a U.S. ambassador and in senior White House and congressional staff roles.
As the various criminal proceedings against Donald Trump have traveled at times tortuous routes in recent years, a frequent refrain has been that he is escaping consequences for some of his most serious alleged misconduct. But this week he finally faced the start a criminal trial, in the New York courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan. And as proceedings turn to opening statements Monday, what we have seen so far suggests that the artful dodger of accountability may have finally met his match.
Beyond this questioning, each party also gets 10 peremptory challenges for the regular jurors , essentially a no-questions-asked ability to strike a prospective juror. Even with both sides dismissing jurors both for cause and through peremptory challenges, after only three days of jury selection, by the end of the week a full 12-person jury and six alternates had been seated. It helped that the judge kept the former president on a tight leash when jurors were in the courtroom.