Fox New host Sean Hannity leaned into a false Facebook post from a self-described “shitposter” claiming to be the cousin of a juror on Donald Trump’s criminal trial and possessed inside information about the verdict before it was read in court.
Last month, a jury in Manhattan convicted Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to reimburse his former fixer Michael Cohen for hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Sentencing is set for July 11.
On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump’s criminal trial, sent a letter to prosecutors and defense attorneys on the case asking about a social media post purporting to preview the former president’s guilty verdict.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted,” the post, which was posted the day before the guilty verdict was delivered reads. “Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
The post was attributed to a user identified as Michael Anderson who NBC News noted described himself as “a professional shitposter.”
The post has since been deleted and the user later admitted to making it up.
“Take it easy … I’m a professional shitposter,” Anderson wrote.
He continued: “Definition: In Internet culture, shitposting or trashposting is the act of using an online forum or social media page to post content that is of ‘aggressively, ironically, and trollishly poor quality.’ Shitposts are generally intentionally designed to derail discussions or cause the biggest reaction with the least effort. It may even sometimes be orchestrated as part of a co-ordinated flame war to render a website unusable by its regular visitors.”
However, Fox New host Sean Hannity embraced the false post in two segments on his show saying it could be grounds for throwing out the guilty verdict against Trump because jurors leaked information.
“Let’s assume, Governor, that’s true. In any court of law, that has to be cause for a mistrial,” Hannity told guest and Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee, according to a clip shared by Mediaite.
“Absolutely has to be,” Huckabee responded. “This whole case stunk as bad as you thought it could. Now it smells like a three-week garbage strike in August in New York City on the streets.”
“The fix was in from the beginning,” another Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe added.
In another segment Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett told Hannity that “it is grounds to vacate the conviction and order a new trial.”
“The message suggests this was egregious juror misconduct,” Jarrett continued. “It’s up to the judge to get to the bottom of it.”
