Merchan Notifies Prosecutors, Trump Lawyers of Post Claiming to Be from Juror’s Cousin — By a ‘Professional Sh*t Poster’
R: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial that ended in a conviction last week, notified prosecutors and defense attorneys of a Facebook comment that turned out to be a troll job.
The former president was found guilty by a jury in Manhattan last week on 34 counts of falsifying business records to obscure hush money payments. Those payments were made to cover up extramarital affairs, lest they come to light during the 2016 presidential campaign.
On Friday, Merchan wrote Trump attorney Todd Blanche and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to apprise them of a recent discovery the court made on its Facebook page, whereupon last week a commenter called “Michael Anderson” claimed a cousin was a juror on the case and Trump was about to be convicted:
Dear Counsel:
Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, “Michael Anderson,” states:
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted [party emoji] Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! [heart emoji].”
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.
Shortly after Merchan’s letter became public, MSNBC’s Katie Phang noted that the same user also claimed on May 20 that Trump would be convicted – 10 days before the conviction was handed down and several days before the jury started deliberations. The user’s profile describes the user as “a professional shit poster.”
In a post on Friday, “Michael Anderson” addressed the row, stating, “Take it easy… I’m a professional shitposter.”
