The judge overseeing former President Trump’s criminal case informed the parties on Friday that a person on Facebook claimed to have prior knowledge of the case’s verdict.
Judge Juan Merchan wrote to Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office that on May 29 — the day 12 New Yorkers began deliberating Trump’s case and the day before he was sentenced — a user of Facebook left the comment on the New York State Unified Court System page.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is being convicted,” the comment read, along with a celebratory emoji. “Thanks guys for all your hard work!!!!”
It’s unclear whether the user was being joking or telling the truth about their relationship with one of Trump’s jurors, but on their personal page, they describe themselves as a “professional poster” — a term that generally refers to internet trolling.
The Hill identified a second comment from the Facebook user, made on May 29, that celebrated “the (hard work) against the MAGA crazies” and again suggested that the user’s cousin was a juror and planned to convict.
A commenter on that exchange wrote that, if true, the Facebook user had implicated his cousin in a crime, to which the user responded: “We are married now,” in an apparent reference to his supposed cousin.
The Hill requested comment from the Facebook user in question.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records on May 30 after the jury deliberated for about 11 hours.
Jurors were instructed not to discuss the facts of the case with anyone – including the judge – once the trial began. Under New York law, a violation of this agreement could serve as grounds to nullify the jury’s verdict.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, has vowed to appeal his conviction.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
