On Friday, Judge Murchin issued a letter to all parties regarding a social media post that claimed a juror leaked the news that Trump’s cousin would be convicted. More evidence surfaced, making the post look like a hoax.
Read: The Republican Presumptive Nominee for President is A Convicted Felon
After flagging a post on the New York Court System Facebook page, Judge Merchant sent a letter to all parties in the case, writing:
“My cousin was a juror and said Trump was convicted,” the user wrote in a comment a week ago, according to the judge. “Thank you everyone for your hard work!!!!”
The post caused some uproar among social media legal eagles, but there was a problem.
As people started digging, it was discovered that the person who posted the message was an internet troll.
MSNBC’s Katie Phang noted that the post was made ten days before the verdict, and nine days before the jury received the case:
Assuming this is the same “Michael Anderson” I don’t think the post is authentic. It also looks like it was made on May 20th. Trump did not make a verdict until May 30, ten days later.
Additionally, the poster’s FB profile reads: “A professional shit poster.” 🤷🠻†â€ï¸ pic.twitter.com/YmnVbl6omM
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) June 7, 2024
Donald Trump will no doubt use this nonsense to claim that the trial was rigged, which is probably the poster’s point of view.
Instead of seeing riots in the streets or anything else that Trump promised, we saw online trolls trying to discredit the trial.
It’s understandable that Judge Silk would want to err on the side of caution, given the historical nature of the case and the appeals process that is bound to follow, but shouldn’t someone do some research and ask some questions before the judge notifies the parties?
This happens every day, every moment, on social media. Focusing on the hoax only raises more questions, but the posts about the juror didn’t seem genuine until Trump spoke.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press corps and a congressional reporter for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a BA in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, particularly social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of Society of Professional Journalists and American Political Science Association
