The US judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush-money case in New York City has raised concerns over a Facebook post suggesting jury tampering. According to BCC, Justice Juan Merchan addressed both prosecutors and Trump’s defense team regarding a post on the court’s Facebook page in which a user named “Michael Anderson” claimed prior knowledge of the jury’s decision.
The post, allegedly from a week before the public announcement, read: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!” Justice Merchan’s letter highlighted this comment but did not verify the authenticity of the post, which has since been deleted.
Both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, declined to comment on the matter. Justice Merchan did not specify whether the post had been investigated or if any wrongdoing was suspected.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records on May 30, one day after the court’s post. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 11.
The post, responding to a May 29 update about unrelated oral arguments, was reportedly made by a now-deleted account known for trolling New York court system pages.
Given that Trump has not yet been sentenced, his defense team could request to set aside the verdict temporarily to investigate potential jury misconduct. They might also seek a new trial if they can prove that external influence affected the jury’s decision. The defense could ask the judge to individually question jurors to determine if any outside interference occurred, Via Politico.
Jurors in this unprecedented criminal case against a former US president were explicitly instructed by the judge not to discuss the case with outside parties before reaching their verdict.
