As former President Donald Trump‘s hush money trial entered its third day on Thursday, the businessman found yet another aspect of the trial to complain about — the temperature in the courtroom.
Bemoaning the cold, he turned to reporters who had gathered outside, hoping to speak with the presumed Republican nominee as everyone broke for lunch. “Is it cold enough?” he quipped.
His defense attorney, Todd Blanche, had already approached Judge Juan Merchan about the issue earlier in the day but was shot down. NBC News reported that he told Merchan that “it’s freezing” in the room.
Merchan replied, “It’s chilly in here, no question.” But he refused to alter the temperature, stating that even a small adjustment to the thermostat would lead to boiling temperatures in the room, according to CNN. He said he’d prefer a bit of a chill in the air as opposed to a hot, sweaty environment.
READ MORE: ‘Belligerent’ Donald Trump ’emotionally drained and exhausted’ after slow-moving first days of court
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“It is cold. There’s no question it is cold. But, I’d rather be a little cold than sweaty, and really, those are the choices,” he said, according to Forbes. He told Blanche, according to the publication, that increasing the thermostat “just one degree” would lead to a drastic shift in the temperature as he dramatically said such a small shift could cause the room’s temperature to jump by as much as 30 degrees (Fahrenheit).
Merchan apologized to all the prospective jurors brought into the room on Thursday, saying, “[We’re] trying to do the best we can do to control the temperature, but it’s one extreme or the other.”
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CNN journalists inside the courtroom observing the trial admitted that it was, in fact, chilly. The courthouse, located in Manhattan, is a 17-story structure of Art Deco style constructed in 1941. It has a steel frame and granite and limestone facade, according to New York City’s Department of Citywide Administration Services, and is comprised of four towers. The building’s age and architecture might be to blame for the temperature changes or the state of the building’s heating and cooling systems, though it’s not clear how old they are.
Jury selection was finished on Thursday, with 12 individuals selected despite pushback on several from Trump’s legal team. Many were dismissed on Thursday for admitted or discovered biases for or against the former president.
Information about the jurors is scarce, with only physical descriptions released about many of them as Merchan asked journalists in the courtroom to hold back on their details so as not to give away too many key features of their identities for safety reasons.
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Trump faces 34 felony charges related to allegedly falsifying business records in order to obscure and hide a $130,000 hush money payment he allegedly made to pornstar Stormy Daniels.
Paid by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney turned nemesis, the payment was designed to silence her after she made claims during the 2016 presidential election — which Trump ended up winning — that she had an affair with him in 2006 in Nevada. She went into detail about the sexual encounters.
Trump and his team allegedly believed the rumors could hurt his chances of winning the White House, so they moved to silence her. He has since denied ever having met her as he bashes her for the claims. Now, the jury will decide what it believes happened and attempt to render justice.
