Former President Donald Trump at Manhattan Criminal Court, May 30, 2024, in New York.
Published June 7, 2024
The judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York on Friday informed the former president’s defense team and prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office that a comment was posted on the New York State Unified Court Systems’ public Facebook page last week by a poster who claimed to be a cousin of a juror, saying that Trump would be convicted.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!” read the comment.
It is not clear if there is any validity to the post. No evidence was provided to support the claim, and the jurors’ identities remain anonymous. A search of the poster’s Facebook page showed the poster described themself as “a professional sh*t poster,” among other things.
CNN has attempted to contact the poster.
Judge Juan Merchan said in a letter that the court had been made aware on Friday of the roughly week-old post, and that it was posted in response to a routine court system notice on May 29 about an unrelated matter. He did not ask the parties to take further action. The post is no longer visible on the court’s Facebook.
“As appropriate, the Court informed the parties once it learned of this online content,” Al Baker, a spokesperson for the court, said.
While Merchan informed the legal teams out of caution, the judge’s notice has no immediate effect on the case, according to CNN senior legal analyst and former state and federal prosecutor Elie Honig.
“The judge is being extra careful here to let the parties know any information that might give them the basis for a motion – there’s a long way though between this and any impact on the case,” Honig said. “First the judge would have to ascertain whether this is even true, and then if it is, whether there is any necessary legal remedy.”
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.cnn.com
RELATED: Judge in Trump’s hush money trial flags Facebook post that claimed insight into jury deliberations
Initial efforts to locate the poster indicated that the message may have come from an internet troll.
Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money trial, did not indicate whether the post appeared legitimate or may have been the result of a prank. | Seth Wenig/AP
Published June 8, 2024
Justice Juan Merchan informed prosecutors and Donald Trump’s attorneys on Friday about a newly discovered post on the New York court system’s Facebook page from a user who claimed to be the cousin of a juror.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted,” the user wrote in a week-old comment, according to the judge. “Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
Merchan, who presided over Trump’s recently concluded hush money trial, did not indicate whether the post — which is no longer visible on Facebook — appeared legitimate or may have been the result of a prank. Media efforts to locate the poster indicated that the post likely came from an account associated with someone who appears to be a regular troll of the New York court system’s social media pages.
Merchan’s decision to alert lawyers in a brief letter on Friday afternoon quickly riled up some commentators on the right, who seized on the message as a sign that Trump’s conviction in the hush money case was somehow tainted.
Jurors were under strict orders from the judge not to discuss the case with anyone while the trial was ongoing.
Trump’s lead defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, declined to comment. The office of the Manhattan district attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.politico.com
RELATED: Hush money judge alerts Trump lawyer, prosecutors to Facebook post claiming prior knowledge of jury’s verdict
Published June 7, 2024
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan revealed Friday that a Facebook user claiming to be a “cousin” of a juror in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial suggested he had advanced knowledge of last week’s guilty verdict.
“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,” Merchan wrote in a letter to Trump attorney Todd Blanche and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“In the comment, the user, ‘Michael Anderson,’ states: ‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted … Thank you folks for all your hard work!!! ….’” the judge explained.
The comment was included in a response to a May 29 post on the New York court system’s Facebook page that was unrelated to the 77-year-old former president’s trial.
