One week after former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts by a 12-member jury, the judge on Friday raised concern about a social media post shared to the court’s page around the time the jury’s verdict came down by a person claiming to be the “cousin” of a juror.
Judge Juan Merchan shared in a letter to Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, flagging a comment by a Facebook user claiming to be related to a juror on the case. A deeper look at the account revealed the user, “Michael Anderson,” to be a self-described “professional s*** poster.”
Anderson posted to his Facebook wall Friday evening after Merchan’s letter went viral online, stirring speculation as to whether a juror violated the oath not to discuss the case without anyone outside of the courtroom.
“Take it easy… I’m a professional s***poster,” Anderson wrote with a laughing emoji.
“Definition: In Internet culture, sh**posting or trashposting is the act of using an online forum or social media page to post content that is of ‘aggressively, ironically, and trollishly poor quality’. 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,” the account added.
Hours before Anderson left that comment, Merchan quoted Anderson’s previous comment to the parties in his letter, saying Anderson wrote at some point last week, “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted … Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!”
Merchan said the comment was left in response to a May 29 posting on the court system’s Facebook page. The flagged comment was labeled by Facebook as “one week old,” according to the judge, meaning it’s not clear when the comment was posted. He said the comment was “regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding.”
The original post by the account for the New York State Unified Court System could no longer be located on its Facebook page, though there were similar comments by Anderson on previous posts by the state court system’s page, particularly one dated May 20 at 9:01 a.m., when Anderson again claimed to be a cousin to a juror.
“Thank you for all your hard against the MAGA crazies! My cousin is a juror on Trumps criminal
case and they’re going to convict him tomorrow according to her. Thank you New York courts!!!!” Anderson wrote, according to a screenshot captured by investigative reporter Jacqueline Sweet. His comment was written under a New York court system post with the top line “PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE COURTS: HON. JEFFREY K. OING.”
Anderson’s Facebook profile seen in the reporter’s screenshots describes him as “Transabled & a professional s*** poster,” making his claims seem more dubious with the added context.
The comments by Anderson on the May 20 post appeared to be hidden or removed as early as 5:50 p.m. on Friday, but the court system’s post remained.
Trump was found guilty on May 30 of 34 felony counts for falsification of business records tied to efforts to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
It’s unclear what may come of the judge’s Friday evening notice at this time, though the former president’s attorneys and the prosecution were placed on notice and could react promptly to the letter.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In addition to the letter about the Facebook post, Merchan also gave permission Friday for Trump attorney Todd Blanche to attend a pre-sentence interview with a probation officer that Trump is expected to join before his July 11 sentencing date.
The Washington Examiner contacted attorneys for Trump and Bragg’s office.
