Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen will appear in front of a Manhattan grand jury on Monday, with a criminal indictment against Trump looking increasingly likely.
Several people with knowledge of the inquiry told the New York Times that Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has already questioned at least seven other people in connection with a hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels on behalf of the former president. Cohen, who made the payment to Daniels, is a key witness in the probe and potentially the last to appear before the grand jury.
Every major player will have appeared after Cohen’s testimony, with the exception of Stormy Daniels herself, who may not be called.
Prosecutors are widely expected to make a final decision on whether to criminally indict Trump shortly thereafter.
In another indication that an indictment is close, prosecutors offered Trump the chance to testify next week, according to the Associated Press.
The $130,000 payment in question was made to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election by Cohen, who in turn was reimbursed by Trump. Daniels claimed she had a sexual affair with the former president he wanted to keep secret. Prosecutors have focused on whether Trump falsified internal records to hide the reimbursement from voters.
New York law considers falsifying business records to be a crime, but it is only a misdemeanor. However, the misdemeanor can be elevated to a felony if it is done to commit or conceal a second crime, which in this case could be a violation of campaign-finance laws. Hush money is not illegal per se, but prosecutors could argue that the payout effectively became an illegal donation to Trump’s campaign under the theory that his candidacy benefited from Daniels’s silence.
Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
This is not the only active criminal probe into the former president. In Georgia, Trump is being investigated by the Fulton County district attorney for allegedly interfering in the 2020 election in that state. He is also being investigated federally by special counsel Jack Smith for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results as well as his handling of classified documents.