Judge Merchan alerts Trump lawyer, Manhattan DA’s office to Facebook comment purportedly made by a juror’s ‘cousin’

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Marchan said Friday that a Facebook user claiming to be the “cousin” of a juror in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial suggested the juror had advance knowledge of last week’s guilty verdict.

“Today, the court became aware of comments posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and is bringing this to everyone’s attention,” Marchan said. I wrote in a letter Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“In the comments, user ‘Michael Anderson’ states: ‘My cousin is on the jury and he says Trump will be found guilty…Thank you all for your hard work!!!…'” the judge explained.

The comments came in a response to a May 29 post on the New York court’s Facebook page that is unrelated to the 77-year-old former president’s trial.

Marchan said Facebook labeled the comment as “one week old” when it was brought to its attention.

Al Baker, a spokesman for the New York State Administrative Office of the Courts, told the Post, “The court notified the parties accordingly once it learned of this online content.”

Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment.

The comment in question appears to have been removed from the social media platforms and The Post was unable to find it.

Anderson on his Facebook profile. Explaining yourself As a “Transabled and Professional Shit Poster.”

Last Thursday, President Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly trying to conceal hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

It’s unclear whether Anderson’s Facebook comments had any impact on the guilty verdict, or whether he actually discussed the case with jurors.