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Judge in Trump hush money trial flags Facebook post claiming juror spoke about case

By Peter Charalambous, Katherine Faulders, and Aaron Katersky, ABC News Jun 7, 2024 | 4:43 PM
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The judge who oversaw former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial in New York made the parties aware Friday of a post to the court system’s Facebook page.

In the post, a user said, “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”

Judge Juan Merchan said the comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine court system notice, posted on May 29, 2024, regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding.

The notification by the judge did not ask the parties to do anything but seemed intended to merely flag them.

In a separate letter, Judge Merchan granted defense attorney Todd Blanche permission to attend Trump’s pre-sentence investigation interview.

A jury found Trump guilty last week on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been convicted on criminal charges.

Trump is expected to file an appeal after he is sentenced in July.

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