Judge Juan Merchan on Friday notified both the prosecution and defense in Donald Trump’s historic hush-money trial about a bizarre comment posted to the New York Courts Facebook page claiming to have insight from a “juror” prior to Trump’s conviction.
In a brief letter addressed to both defense attorney Todd Blanche and Manhattan ADA Joshua Steinglass, Merchan informed both parties that the court had “been made aware” of a comment posted to the courts system’s public Facebook page on May 29, one day before the verdict was issued. The comment, quoted in the letter, reads:
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted 🎉 Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! ❤️."
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In his letter, Merchan described the post the comment responded to and described the poster as a user named “Michael Anderson.” There was no indication that the poster actually had a cousin on the jury, however, and the Facebook user reportedly described him or herself as a “professional shit poster” on their profile.
“The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29, 2024, regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding. The posting, entitled ‘The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, will hear oral arguments this morning at 10,’ and the comment are both viewable at https://facebook.com/NewYorkCourts,” Merchan wrote.
The comment was no longer available on the Facebook page as of Friday afternoon. It may have been deleted by the user who posted it or by the court itself. “As appropriate, the Court informed the parties once it learned of this online content,” a spokesman for the court said.
The New York Courts’ Facebook page is no stranger to troll comments attacking Trump, Judge Merchan, and other players.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts on May 30. Merchan is tasked with sentencing, and a hearing has been set for July 11.
