Trump Judge Raises Alert About Social Media Post Bragging of Conviction Day Before It Was Announced

The judge in Donald Trump's hush money case has informed lawyers about a potentially troubling social media post crowing about the former president's conviction on 34 felonies a day before it was announced.

It was not immediately clear if the Facebook user, identified on the social media site as "Michael Anderson," had any relationship whatsoever to the case. The writer claimed in the message be a "cousin" of one of juror's, according to a short letter sent Friday to the defense and prosecution team by Judge Juan Merchan.

A later message from one Facebook user identifying himself as Michael Anderson describes himself as a "professional s---poster," an indication his comments may not be reliable. "Anderson" added: "S---posts are generally intentionally designed to derail discussions or cause the biggest reaction with the least effort."

Trump blurted out on Truth Social after news of the letter broke: "MISTRIAL."

Merchan wrote to the attorneys that he "became aware" of the post stating: "My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted ... Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!"

The comment was posted beneath an unrelated post on the New York court system's Facebook page on May 29, the day before jurors found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep their relationship hidden from voters. If the post were true it could indicate a juror was leaking information to an outsider which could theaten the legitimacy of the verdit.

New York Courts spokesperson Al Baker said in a statement that it's "appropriate" the "court informed the parties once it learned of this online content."

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Alene said the judge took the appropriate action in the situation by alerting the lawyers ahead of a possible hearing to resolve any issues.

"If it's someone posting with no basis for it as it appears, the record will be clear ... and if there's something to it, good to get it out [and] do justice," she wrote on X.

There was no immediate reaction from the defense or prosecution teams.