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Judge Juan Merchan sent a letter alerting President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Brag of a Facebook comment that could interfere with the “hush money” case’s guilty verdict.
According to the Washington Examiner, a user named Michael Anderson commented on a New York State Unified Court System post about the guilty verdict the day before it was delivered.
The now-removed post was shared to X by independent journalist Jacqueline Sweet, who shared screenshots of Anderson’s comment, where the user stated, “My cousin is a juror on Trumps criminal case and they’re going to convict him tomorrow according to her.”
This has sparked a massive response, leading to talk of a mistrial if a juror did violate their oath to refrain from speaking about the case beyond the courtroom.
Even President Trump posted about the situation on his Truth Social account on Friday, simply stating, “MISTRIAL!!!”
But Sweet’s screenshots also display that the Michael Anderson account, where the comment in question originated, defines the user as “Transabled & a professional s*** poster.”
The Washington Examiner claimed that after Merchan sent out his alerts, Anderson posted, “Take it easy… I’m a professional s***poster.”
Anderson clarified his post by defining what these kinds of posts mean and added, “S***posts are generally intentionally designed to derail discussions or cause the biggest reaction with the least effort.”
“It may even sometimes be orchestrated as part of a co-ordinated flame war to render a website unusable by its regular visitors,” he concluded.
The confusion caused by this situation is ongoing.
Regardless, Merchan did agree to allow President Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche to engage in a pre-sentencing interview before the initial sentencing date on July 11, per the Washington Examiner.