Judge Juan Merchan of the Donald Trump hush money case alerted Trump’s lawyer and Manhattan prosecutors of a Facebook user who seemingly revealed the jury’s verdict before it was announced. The user, named Michael Anderson, claimed he was a cousin of one of the jurors and posted his reaction to the trial on the social media platform.

“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted,” Anderson wrote. “Thank you folks for all your hard work!”

Merchan explained the situation in a letter to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney. On May 30, a 12-person jury found the former president guilty on all 34 counts of fraud related to the alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. The historic verdict made Trump the first former president to become a convicted felon.

The original post from Anderson was marked as “old week old” according to Merchan’s letter. The comment responded to a post from the New York court from May 29, unrelated to Trump’s trial. The comment appears to have been deleted and Anderson’s identity is still unconfirmed.

If jury misconduct is found, the social media post may lead to a potential retrial for Trump. As of now, the Trump campaign has said they are investigating the matter. Whether this will affect Trump’s current conviction has yet to be confirmed.

Trump responded to the news with a single word in Truth Social post, “Mistrial.”

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Ann Hoang

Article by Ann Hoang

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