I do not like MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. I think he’s a jackass. But I don’t leave my TV on CNN all day. I jump from network to network (CNN, MSNBC, BBC) and a couple nights ago, I landed on O’Donnell’s show and he was reading out specific details of some of the jurors who have been seated so far in the Trump hush money case.
Reporters are in the courtroom as prosecutors and the defense ask questions of each potential juror. This is where they’re getting the details. Some are abusing it.
I’m not advocating that the media shouldn’t have access to the details O’Donnell read on his show, but I think the media needs to exercise some responsibility. O’Donnell is not the only person in the media who’s exposed details of jurors, but in doing so, he aided the MAGAts. He aided Donald Trump in his efforts to interfere with the juror process. Why was Lawrence O’Donnell revealing these details?
Last Thursday, a juror who had been seated asked Judge Juan Merchan to excuse her from jury duty, feeling her identity had been outed or was close to it. The juror, a woman, said family and friends had already guessed she was Juror No. 2 after media reports included her occupation and employer.
Some reports on the jurors described them with details of their occupations and even their physical appearances. The identity of the jurors must remain anonymous as outside forces could attempt to tamper with the trial by intimidating, threatening, or even making bribe attempts. MAGAts are already on the internet trying to expose the jurors. Even inside the courtroom, Donald Trump has attempted to intimidate a potential juror.
The judge has told the media not to report the details.
Additionally, while Donald Trump tweeted a claim from Fox News’ Jesse Watters that Democratic activists were lying to get on the jury, a member of Congress, Byron Donalds, went on Newsmax and pleaded for people in Manhattan to sneak on the jury and acquit Trump. This should be illegal. Byron Donalds should be admonished by the House and like George Santos, removed. I will not be holding my breath.
Goons like Donalds don’t want a fair trial. They want a kangaroo court, a jury, that decides Trump is innocent before it hear the case.
Watters also attempted to dox members of the jury, describing the second juror as a nurse from the Upper East Side with a Master’s degree, unmarried, with no children, and lives with her fiancé who works in finance. As it turns out, this is the juror who asked to be removed.Judge Merchan did remove her.
While O’Donnell stupidly read details of jurors, Watters was deliberately attempting to out them. This is some serious sleazeball stuff from Trump, Watters, and Donalds. O’Donnell was just being O’Donnell.
CNN and The Washington Post described Juror No. 2’s occupation and expertise. The Post later removed the details and published a policy on handling juror information, saying the newspaper would “be assessing what information shared in court is in the public interest” and “balancing that against concerns about the security of potential jurors.” It would seem they would have figured out beforehand not to publish any juror’s occupation. Newsweek and NBC went as far as to publish the employer of Juror No. 2.
We’ve already seen Trump and MAGAts go after people they deem threats to Dear Leader. Trump and Rudy Giuliani sent their flying monkeys after two Georgia election workers who were guilty of counting votes properly. Ray Epps had to leave his home when he was wrongly accused of acting as a federal agent inciting MAGA terrorists to enter the Capitol during the Jan. 6 failed Trump coup. While he was president (sic), Trump attacked the jury forewoman in the trial that found Roger Stone guilty of obstruction (for which he later pardoned Stone). Trump constantly tweeted about court cases and investigations while he was president (sic).
When Jesse Watters read the details of Juror No. 2, he told his viewers, “Scares me, if I’m Trump.” Watters was telling his viewers that this juror was the enemy and they should stop her.
Trumpers are goons and they will do everything they can to obstruct justice and destroy democracy. The legitimate media doesn’t need to help them by telling us if they like pina coladas and long walks in the rain.
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Watch me draw:
CLAYTOONZ 
I had no idea the media could sit in on jury selection. This should be illegal! And why are these “goons” getting away with it? Somewhere along about 2016 it seems everyone lost their integrity. It’s so frustrating being an ordinary citizen and watching what is going on in our government. The supreme court is like a kangaroo Court. We can’t rely on them for justice. What is an ordinary citizen supposed to do?
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I sat on the jury selection for the third and last trial of Byron De La Beckwith.
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I happen to like Lawrence O’Donnell. He might sound cocky and like a “jackass” sometimes, but he’s been around Washington long enough to sniff out the real story about most of what happens on the hill. When he’s wrong, he acknowledges it. I’d always trust him to give me the truth.
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There needs to be a limit on what is public and what goes on behind closed doors. Everything about jurors should always be private, even in an open courtroom. It may be true that a defendent should be able to confront his or her accuser, but there should be no contact between the defendent, their lawyers, or those in the gallery with the jurors. Times have changed, everything is much more liable to be misused. If the privacy of the juror is not sacrosanct, there can no longer be real justice.
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I also like O’Donnnell. He directly calls out what should be called out. And as to CNN in my opinion it has only barely arisen from the wasteland that Licht rendered. Therefore MSNBC has become in the last half year or so my first goto. As to jurors names and even occupatiions being revealed that is a no no. Generally the news is trying to paint a picture of what is before us. At least rhe good ones.
Your CNN toon was fantastic.
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I agree with you found MSNBC last year and I watch Rachel, Alex, and Lawrence, found they to be very up front on most of what is going on and like their take on most info. The cartoon was great.
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Let me explain the difference between CNN and MSNBC. CNN is more impartial and there are a lot of Republicans on it. Probably too many. Most of CNN’s hosts are liberals. Even the Republicans, Nicole Wallace and Michael Steele, are liberals. I do like them and there are other journalists at MSNBC I like Katy Tur, but that’s a bias because she’s like butter.
MSNBC is a good news source but they’re partisan, not to the left as much as it’s to the Democratic Party. Hell, Al Sharpton, an activist, has his own show on the network.
Any time they report poll results that favor Trump, they’ll immediately tell you the good news in it for Biden.
When you are witnessing major breaking news, you need to watch CNN. They’re better at it. They have more resources dedicated to gathering actual news. On election nights, you’ll notice that MSNBC calls races before CNN. Why is that? Because their standards are lower than CNN’s.
People who love MSNBC more than CNN are all liberals. Look at yourself. As for me, of course I’m liberal but I know who is a better news source.
And even if Lawrence O’Donnell wasn’t a jackass I could never stay tuned to his program because….he…talks…like…this…through…out…his…show. How can anyone sit through that?
And the reason CNN’s numbers have been consistently down over the past few years is because they report the news.
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To each his own. Opinions are like a _ _ h _ _ _s, everyone has one. (The trick is balancing one’s opinion with the other thing. I personally haven’t mastered that task. Some days I am more one than the other.)
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It just boggles my mind that the media would publish *any* kind of information about jurors . . . physical description, the town they live in, workplace info, education, family info (or the lack of it) . . . AND . . . the one thing that absolutely fried my chaps was when they described one juror as having a noticeable Irish accent. WTAF? Way to let the whole world know who potential jurors are likely to be! It seems to me that this violates journalistic ethics. Jurors have a right to privacy, especially nowadays, and especially-especially in the criminal, nefarious, felonious, contemptible era of The Orange Menace, who has proven time and time again that he will go gunning for absolutely anyone for the slightest reason.
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They typically have to live in the town where the trial takes place, but not always.
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It may be different in NY. In California, you have to live in the County, but not necessarily the town/city.
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I think the only data the media should be allowed to release about a juror is gender and age. This trial is particularly volatile and we know that Trump’s henchmen and supporters would not hesitate to act with violence toward any of the jurors if they were able to identify them. They would publish their addresses on Facebook and elsewhere and the cultists would not hesitate to do whatever they could to intimidate. What happens when one of the jurors house is set afire, or they are rammed by a redneck’s monster truck on the way to court? Great ‘toon, btw!
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I could be wrong but I believe in this case, it’s not just NYC they have to live in, but the borough of Manhattan.
Years ago for the Beckwith trial in Mississippi, it was held in Jackson where the murder occurred but the jury was selected from Panola County which is in the northern part of the state and where my career started.
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I’m not very familiar with NY and its boroughs – are boroughs like Counties in other states? And parishes in Louisiana?
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Not in New York City although each borough is in a different county. New York City is one city divided into five administrative divisions probably because it’s so large. The five boroughs are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Each borough has different neighborhoods.
Fun facts: The Bronx is the only borough entirely on the mainland of the United States. Queens and Brooklyn are on Long Island. The New York Subway operates in every borough except Staten Island which has its own train system (although operated by the same company as the subway). The only way to get to Staten Island from Manhattan is on the Staten Island Ferry, which gives you a great view. There is a bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn. Staten Island is closer to New Jersey than it is to the rest of the city.
Staten Island is the only borough that Trump won. Stay away from Staten Island.
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No way would I go to Staten Island – I’d be throwing up every time on that ferry ride! LOL! Thanks for clarifying it for me, Clay! I appreciate it. :)
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I don’t think, selecting a jury should be, this hard, even if you got picked and your families know that you had been, drawn, you should still, NOT, see it, as a reason for you to, not serve on it, just because it’s a, widely publicized case like Trump’s. But, if you already, preferred the, Republican Party, then, chances are, you will be, BIASED, because you are, blind to, follow the party that’s, too corrupt to get, saved, and, you won’t make your decision impartially enough, you should, EXCUSE yourself from serving on the jury.
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