Donald Trump has signalled he would seek a mistrial after the judge overseeing his hush money trial alerted his lawyers to an online post by someone claiming to have had advance knowledge of the jury’s verdict.
Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the case in New York, informed prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers on Friday about the existence of a post on the court’s Facebook page written by someone who claimed to be a relative of a juror.
The court has since become “aware” of a comment left on its Facebook page by someone purporting to be a relative of a juror, Justice Merchan said in a letter on Friday.
Michael Anderson said, in response to something unrelated the court had posted on May 29: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
On May 30, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in a unanimous jury verdict, making him the first former president to be criminally convicted.
“MISTRIAL!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly after his team and the prosecution received Justice Merchan’s letter.
The Republican is subject to a gag order, which bars him from attacking the jury or witnesses in the case, which likely prevented him from making a more specific comment.
Trump complained about the order during his trial, and his lawyers are attempting to have it lifted. The move is being opposed by prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Screenshots posted online of Mr Anderson’s Facebook account show he refers to himself as a “professional s--- poster”. The term is similar to that of a “troll”, and refers to someone who deliberately makes provocative claims online.
The person behind the account is also an active member of a Facebook group for Trump supporters who routinely posts anti-Biden and pro-Trump memes, according to the Washington Post.
Both the comment and account have since been deleted, meaning The Telegraph has been unable to independently verify either claim.
Sabrina Shroff, a veteran New York defence lawyer, told The Telegraph that Trump’s legal team could ask the judge to push back his sentencing hearing in July to investigate the claim.
“If I were the lawyer I would send my investigator to the commentator. Then I’d evaluate the credibility of the commentator and then try and find the juror,” she said.
“I would interview the juror, try and get an affidavit from the juror, and then follow the motion for a new trial.
“Then I would check, if at all possible, if any other juror had commented directly or indirectly about my client or his trial.”
Supporters of the former president were quick to leap on the news, arguing it supported Trump’s repeated claims that he was the victim of a “rigged” trial coordinated by the White House.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman and Republican firebrand, said: “If true, this is even further proof president Trump never had a chance of being innocent.
“It was a sham trial from the beginning and the ‘guilty’ verdict came down from the Deep State and ‘the Big Guy’.”
Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, wrote on Twitter: “Mistrial fodder”.
Justice Merchan did not state in his letter whether Mr Anderson’s claim was being investigated or whether officials suspect any wrongdoing.
Elie Honig, a legal analyst with broadcaster CNN, suggested Justice Merchan was simply being “extra careful” and that “there’s a long way though between this and any impact on the case”.
While the Facebook post is being treated with scepticism by most sections of US media, Donald Trump’s legal team could push for an investigation.
The former president could demand that Justice Merchan question the jurors individually to establish whether they were swayed by outside influence, or violated his order not to discuss deliberations outside the jury room.
It may potentially push back the date of Trump’s sentencing, which had been scheduled for July 11.
He faces up to four years in prison if found guilty.
An official with the Trump campaign told Fox News they were “investigating the matter”. The campaign has been independently approached for comment by The Telegraph.
Todd Blanche, the lead lawyer on Trump’s defence team, has also been approached for comment.
Al Baker, a spokesman for New York’s office of court administration, said that “as appropriate, the Court informed the parties once it learned of this online content”.
At a rally on Friday in Arizona, a swing state in the forthcoming presidential election, Trump repeated claims that his trial was an act of political persecution by Joe Biden, the US President.
“Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told the crowd.
