GOP Demands Trump Mistrial After Facebook Comment From Juror’s ‘Cousin’ Sparks Conspiracy
Brian BushardForbes Staff
Brian is a Boston-based Forbes breaking news reporter.
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Jun 8, 2024,12:37pm EDT
Updated Jun 8, 2024, 12:40pm EDT
TOPLINE
Republicans are calling for a mistrial in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case after the judge overseeing the case reported a since-deleted Facebook post by someone claiming to be a cousin of a juror that seemed to predict Trump’s guilty verdict—though there is plenty of reason to doubt the veracity of the Facebook poster.
A Facebook user claiming to be the cousin of a juror in former President Donald Trump’s New York ... [+]
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KEY FACTS
New York Judge Juan Merchan publicized the Facebook post in a Friday letter to defense attorneys and prosecutors in Trump’s case—quoting it in full: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted 🎉 Thank you folks for all your hard work !!!!❤️.” —sparking an immediate outcry from right-wing pundits and lawmakers.The post was made by a Facebook user identifying as Michael Anderson, who describes himself as “professional s**tposter.”
Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, who has heavily criticized Merchan, focused his show on the post, calling it a “very alarming development,” and “has to be cause for a mistrial.”
Fox contributor and former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee, who appeared alongside Hannity in the segment, agreed it “[a]bsolutely has to be” a cause for mistrial,” adding the case “stunk as bad as you thought it could.”
Hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., reposted a report from right-wing outlet Newsmax, arguing the “fix was in from the beginning” and a “sham trial from the beginning,” adding that a guilty verdict “came down from the Deep State and ‘the Big Guy,” seeming to reference President Joe Biden (Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that Biden worked with New York prosecutors to bring charges).
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., another Trump ally, also posted, claiming Trump “didn’t get a fair trial” and that the “jury was precooked.”
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump decried the letter, writing simply: “MISTRIAL!”
