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Sleuths hunt down intel on possible Facebook troll claiming early knowledge of Trump conviction

A post flagged by Judge Merchan claiming knowledge of Trump's criminal trial verdict early is starting a fuss

Senior Culture Editor

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024. (Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024. (Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

On Friday afternoon, Judge Juan Merchan issued a letter to Todd Blanche and Joshua Steinglass — opposing heads of representation in Donald Trump's hush money trial — alerting them to a Facebook post written by a mysterious individual claiming knowledge of the verdict in the case prior to it being handed down.

In the letter, Merchan writes:

Dear Counsel:
Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System's public
Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, "Michael Anderson," states:
"My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!"

Naturally, this called into question who this "Michael Anderson" is, but after a bit of digging, the post may be the work of a jokester. 

According to Politico, the post left on an unrelated May 29 argument notice has since vanished, and may have been have been the result of a prank by a "regular troll" of the New York court system’s social media pages. But that isn't stopping Trumpers from grasping to use the post as a possible way to upend Trump's upcoming sentencing on July 11.

"That provides grounds for throwing out any conviction," one man said in response to Anderson's post.

"Take it easy, I'm a professional s**tposter," the troll stated on their Facebook account later in the day.

 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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