The grueling process to find five more impartial Trump jurors: Inside the unforgiving selection that saw a bookseller who listens to NPR in the shower dismissed for being too political

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Prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked each of the 18 prospective jurors in front of him to look across at Donald Trump and then take a long look inside themselves and decide whether they were up to the job of deciding guilt or innocence.

'You have to be able to come back from your deliberations and look the defendant in the eye and say "guilty.'

'And only you can know that.'

The defendant knew exactly where to look. He wrenched his body around to the right facing them, and delivered a penetrating glare as each in turn answered 'yes.'

It made for a dramatic moment on day two of Trump's hush money trial. The former president went eye-to-eye with some of the Manhattan men and women who will deliver one of the most important verdicts in history. 

Cameras are not allowed in court 1530 so sketch artists provide images of the action. Former President Donald Trump is seen here with his lawyers Todd Blanche (left) and Emil Bove (right)

The laborious process highlights the challenge of finding people who can deliver a verdict on a highly polarizing defendant without bias.

As they quizzed the panel of 18 possibles, prosecutors wanted to know that each of them were capable of delivering a guilty verdict without adding extra hurdles to protect the most famous man in the country, a man who claims to be the victim of a political witch hunt.

The defense wanted to know what the 18—New York Times readers almost to a man and woman—thought of their client. They only need one to decide 

Not that many wanted to share their views.

Juror B113, a Manhattan bookseller with short gray hair in his 50s or 60s and who said he listened to NPR in the shower, said it had no bearing on the case.

'That is a separate thing,' he said, in the sort of tone that said he wasn't here to debate who won the 2020 election.

Defense lead Todd Blanche smelled a rat. Imagine, we were sitting at a bar, he said, would you tell me your views then?

'If we were at a bar, I would,' he said, raising laughter around the court.

Blanche had to smile but prospective juror B113 pressed on.

Judge Juan Merchan moved quickly through prospective candidates and managed to get more than half way to filling a panel of 12 by the end of Tuesday. The court does not sit Wednesday

'I'll say I'm a Democrat so there you go but I walk in there and he’s a defendant and that’s all he is,' he said.

Trump watched the exchange intently, looking as if he were trying to read the man's face for signs that he had already made up his mind. 

More on that later.

There were brief moments of levity.

Juror B402, a black woman in a cardigan who works with seniors, admitted she already had thoughts on Trump. After all, who doesn't?

Trump smiled when she said he 'stirs the pot'  

'You can't judge him because he speaks his mind, I mean the way everyone wants to judge him for speaking his mind. … I know what's right and what’s wrong,' she said.

Blanche pressed her to explain what she meant, part of his effort to tease out any feelings that might mean his client didn't get a fair go.

'If I told you all the time what I thought about people—I want to say some things to people but my momma said be nice,' she said.

A social media post about Donald Trump saying 'lock him up' led to one potential juror being struck from the Manhattan case

Judge Juan Merchan is aiming to complete jury selection this week so that opening statements can begin on Monday. He has Thursday and Friday to find five more jurors and six alternates

Of the first batch of 96 prospective jurors, more than half had put up their hands on Monday to say they did not think they could be impartial. 

At each subsequent step, another handful admitted they could not put aside their feelings about Trump or outlined work clashes and were excused.

B354 said growing up in Texas and working in finance might leave him compromised by 'unconscious bias.'

Others who had said they had no problem with being impartial on Monday had second thoughts by Tuesday.

By Tuesday afternoon, Judge Merchan was ready to begin the business of selecting from the first batch of 18 to fill the final seats.

Not so fast said Blanche. His team had been scouring social media profiles of the jurors for anything that might undermine their impartiality.

Merchan had no time for memes posted eight years ago by the husband of B330, from the Upper West Side, showing a Simpsons character holding Trump's decapitated head.

'If this is the worst thing you're able to find about this juror,' said Merchan, then it gave him more confidence in her ability to be impartial.

Trump's lawyers Blanche and Susan Necheles return to the courtroom after a break. Blanche questioned prospective jurors over their social media posts

Stormy Daniels appears at an event, May 23, 2018, in West Hollywood, California. The case revolves around hush money payments allegedly paid to the adult movie star

But the social media history of others proved more contentious. 

Juror B38, a middle-aged white man with thinning hair and black, thick-rimmed glasses, was out for a post calling for Trump to be locked up for his 2016 travel ban.

B113, the bookseller with a no-nonsense approach and the idea that his status as a Democrat would be no barrier to impartiality, was quizzed about posts that showed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

In a dark blue button-down shirt, he said it was related to selling buttons for a political action committee. He said it does not support a political party but works to get out the voter.

Again he said his political views had no bearing on the case but admitted that he had a negative view of Trump. 'Politically, yes I do,' he said.

That was enough for Merchan.

'I'm having a hard time crediting responses,' he said later, 'and if I'm having a hard time crediting his responses I have a hard time having on the jury.'

And with that, B113 was struck from the pool.

By the end of the day, seven prospective jurors had survived and been sworn in. That means the court must find about five jurors plus six alternates by the end of Friday if the judge is to hit his target of holding opening statements on Monday.