A man summoned for jury duty in the New York criminal tax-fraud trial of Donald Trump’s international real-estate company was excused by a judge on Thursday after saying that the former president makes him sick to his guts.
The then-prospective juror, a middle-aged man, told New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Manuel Merchan on day three of jury selection in the Manhattan trial that he had “strong feelings” about Trump that “turned into a very visceral feeling in my gut” overnight.
The man said he had not had feelings like that about the Republican businessman-turned-politician in the two years since Trump was president.
“I don’t feel like it’s a very healthy thing for me to be here,” the man told Merchan before he was ultimately excused.
The judge asked defense attorneys and prosecutors whether they had any objections to the man being dismissed, and they said no.
The man declined to speak to reporters after he left the courtroom.
So far, seven jurors have been selected to sit on the panel in the high-profile state Supreme Court case. That group includes two women who said in court that they didn’t like how Trump ran the country, but noted that they could still be fair and impartial jurors.
The jury chosen in the case will determine if Trump’s namesake business — Trump Organization — defrauded tax authorities. The company is accused of paying executives some of their compensation off the books in the form of untaxed perks, like free apartments and cars.
The Trump Organization is facing multiple counts of conspiracy, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records, and criminal tax fraud.