'Take it easy': Internet troll who gave Trump team hopes of a mistrial admits making it up

Former President Donald Trump's 34-count conviction for felony falsification of business records in New York was briefly thrown into confusion on Friday, following Judge Juan Merchan's disclosure to both legal parties of a Facebook account that appeared to assert it had inside knowledge of the jury verdict around the time it was handed down — which, if it could be established as proof that a juror leaked information to someone outside, could be grounds for throwing out the verdict.

But no sooner did that report drop than legal observers and political commentators began speculating that the whole thing looked like a hoax. And in a post shared by MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang, the account, "Michael Anderson," apparently witnessing all of the flareup over his activity, appeared to confirm as such.

"Take it easy ... I'm a professional s---poster," Anderson wrote.

ALSO READ: ‘That's the Kool-Aid’: Republicans triple down on Trump the morning after guilty verdict

Following up, to avoid any confusion, the "Michael Anderson" account's post continued, "Definition: In Internet culture, s----posting 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.' S---posts 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."

Although the skepticism about the post's authenticity is mounting, many Trump supporters immediately leaped onto it, with many right-wing activists calling for Trump's conviction to be immediately dismissed.

Anderson had claimed to be a cousin of one of the jurors, something that has not as of now been verified. It's also unclear whether the post he made actually took place before the verdict was reached, although the New York court system post it was attached to was a day beforehand.